Entrevestor will soon launch an exercise that will address one of the shortcomings in the Atlantic Canadian ecosystem – the lack of concrete data on the size and economic impact of the startup community.

Within the next few weeks, we will send a two-page survey to every startup we know of in Atlantic Canada – that’s about 300 companies. We will keep all the information on individual companies completely confidential. Yet, by aggregating the information, we will be able to present a more concrete picture of why the startup community is important to the region’s economic future.

We’re now preparing the survey and discussing the questions with key people in the community. We’re discovering what policy makers want to know. And we’re learning about how to word the questions to find precise data. And we’re conscious of your time, so we’re making it as lean as possible.

This survey should matter to all of us because it will give the startup community robust data on the impact of startups in the region. This is an important tool in discussions with policy makers about the development of programs that can further develop the ecosystem and grow stronger companies.

It also strengthens Entrevestor’s business model. Some of the data will appear free in our content, and other data we will sell in private reports. Obviously, this benefits Entrevestor itself. It also allows us to continue to provide daily free, open news and columns for and about the startup community, and to get the message out to other parts of the world. If you value what Entrevestor provides, this is your opportunity to help out.

And how can you help out?

First of all, please support this effort when talking to others in the community. We hope to create a positive message about this survey.

More important, please take the time to fill out the survey if we send you one. We estimate it will take less than five minutes and it will help us immeasurably. Again, all the information is confidential. And if there are particular questions you don’t feel comfortable answering, just skip them.

We’ll be releasing more information on the survey in coming weeks. We aim to get the survey out at the end of this month. The initial findings will be revealed in our first Entrevestor Intelligence report of 2014, which will be out in late March.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at peter@entrevestor.com.

Yours,

Peter Moreira