Entrepreneurs believe they can change the world, but Peter Gifford advises the founders he mentors that their optimism needs to be grounded in reality.
Gifford is entrepreneur-in-residence with regional accelerator Propel ICT in St. John’s. Propel aims to mentor and graduate over 400 startups across Atlantic Canada by 2019. The group is ramping up in Newfoundland and Labrador, where it began work in 2015.
Gifford has been in his role for about a year, working mainly with early-stage ventures. He tries to help founders avoid common mistakes.
“Founders are intrinsically very optimistic and that’s an awesome trait,” he said. “But we challenge people to dive deep on one critical piece of their business that will make a difference to the client and prove financial value.”
He said it’s important to find that one starting point. Founders can expand their product offering later on.
He said entrepreneurs often fail to research the needs of potential clients. They assume that once their technology is perfect they’ll acquire clients, but they don’t spend time getting to know their market.
“Entrepreneurs think, if the technology did this, this and this it would be so much better,” he said. “People can invest a ton in technical development then have to make further investments in order to achieve business success.”
Gifford draws on personal experience in his mentoring work. He was founder and CEO of Extreme Ocean Innovation, a St. John’s startup that developed an access vessel to serve offshore wind farms.
He had that role for four years until 2014 when the company closed down.
“The venture didn’t work out in the end, although it was selected by Carbon Trust of the U.K. as a top company and received investment from governments in Canada and abroad,” he said.
“I was devastated when the company failed, but I learned a ton and I see my opportunity with Propel as a chance to help startups avoid some of the mistakes we made. I want to help get them to clients and revenues faster.”
He said the reasons for his company’s failure include technical and commercial issues and possibly bad timing.
He was fortunate that his next opportunity involved acting as executive director at St. John’s co-working space Common Ground during a major expansion.
In late 2015, he became Propel’s entrepreneur-in-residence in St. John’s, helping with the city’s first cohort of the Launch program for early-stage startups.
Propel is currently accepting applications for the next cohort of Launch in St. John’s. Applications close January 31 for the program that starts Match 6.
Propel ICT Names First Growth Cohort
Gifford said the Propel team have listened to feedback from entrepreneurs they’ve worked with and have differentiated their Launch and Build programs (Build is for companies with revenue) to make them more complementary.
He said that so far, Propel has graduated 25 companies in St. John’s, resulting in 15 active ventures.
“We’re excited about the investment those companies have found,” he said. “They’ve gained $1.1 million in private follow-on investment and created about 25 new jobs.”
Gifford believes St. John’s has become more entrepreneurial since he arrived in 2003 in order to study naval architecture at Memorial University.
He completed a master’s in naval architecture, becoming involved in developing the access vessel for offshore wind farms.
He would like to be involved in another startup in the future.
“I’d absolutely like to start another company,” he said. “I’ve got to make sure it’s the right idea and the right team. It will take a bit of time to figure that out. In the meantime, I’m learning a lot and contributing.”
(Full Disclosure: Propel ICT is a client of entrevestor.)
