On Monday night in Fredericton, we’ll gather to discuss an issue that doesn’t receive enough attention: what can the community do to encourage early adopters?

It’s an issue of particular interest to East Valley Venture Chairman Gerry Pond, who will lead the discussion.

As I wrote last week, we’re hosting the first Entrevestor Dinner at the Kingswood golf club in Fredericton. (Tickets for the event are available here.) Every guest is invited to join in the discussion on critical issues in developing the ecosystem. We hope it will lead to lasting improvements.

New Brunswick Innovation Foundation CEO Calvin Milbury will lead a discussion on mentorship, and Pond will take the podium for a chat about early adopters.  People from throughout the Maritimes have already signed up to come and join these discussions, and we’re looking for more participants.

One problem bedeviling Atlantic Canadian startups is the difficulty they have in finding early adopters – the first customers to test a prototype or minimum viable product. Finding such customers is essential in getting feedback during the development of the product and getting early revenues into the bank.

The problem is there are few large corporations in the region, so it’s hard for B2B companies to find local champions for their products. Governments could fill the gap, but tend to make decisions more slowly than private corporations. That can be a problem for young companies built to move quickly.

Pond will open the discussion with a brief talk on what’s at stake and what our options are in addressing the matter. After that, the audience will discuss the best way forward. Should we initiate an award or certificate recognizing early adopters? Should there be mentorship program to explain to large organizations how they can best work with startups? Do we need a register of early adopters? 

We’ll meet up on Monday, May 12, at about 3:45 at Kingswood. We’ll get under way at 4 pm sharp, with a brief summation of the data Entrevestor has collected recently on the startup community. Then Milbury will lead the mentorship discussion until 5:10 pm, at which time Pond will take the stage.

You can contribute to these discussions, which we hope will lead to lasting change in our ecosystem. You can register here. The $75 cost covers the cost of the dinner and wine. We'd like to thank NBIF for assisting us in hosting this dinner.

Please bring along your opinions. We are looking for open and spirited discussions about these subjects. If you have strong feelings about them, please join the people from across the region who plan to attend this dinner.