2007 has been a bumper year for start-ups in Ottawa so it is really quite a challenge to picks just three. The criteria this year is more stringent than last year as well (an update on the 2006 Alumni soon). Not so much in the sense of the quality of the companies but in the definition of start-up. This year early stage means essentially that the companies are fewer than 10 employees and pre-seed funded or earlier. These companies are very early stage businesses just getting ready to burst onto the scene.

Scott Lake and Toby Lutke provide Shopify with the management and world class technical experience for a strong, balanced commercialization strategy. Shopify is the Google of online shopping and an up and coming Ottawa company. By that (Google of online shopping) I mean they are a company with a very strong and positive corporate culture, if you can say corporate and start-up in the same breath. Shopify have a very simple and defensible strategy for corporate growth. For anyone familiar with the book “Good to Great” you will recognize the characteristics listed as Level 5 Leadership, a culture of discipline and the hedgehog concept. Shopify has all the foundations of a GREAT company.

Aydin Mirazee of bOK is articulate, well spoken and personable. He has started his business part time while holding down a full time job and has taken the entrepreneurial leap. bOK seems to me like a company that should go far. You could think of entrepreneurship and start-ups like a horse race, or at least I will try and convince you of that. The entrepreneur would be the equivalent of the jockey and the start-up is the horse. When you bet at the races you can bet on the horse, the jockey or both. With Aydin as the jockey and bOK as the horse this is a bet I would take anytime. In fact I think Aydin is a good enough jockey that he could do well with many different horses. Aydin and bOK are a company to watch in Ottawa.

My next pick is a young and emerging startup that I have gotten to know quite well. In fact thinkRF have been the inspiration for many of my blog posts on entrepreneurship. This is a true early stage business that is going about commercialization in all the right ways. What I like about thinkRF is that they have the makings of a culture of performance and accomplishment. They have a strong and visionary leader that understands the importance of a balanced commercialization strategy.  thinkRF has all the traits of a Great company.

In my opinion the Blogmatic Start-up class of 2007 are all excellent companies and will be worth keeping an eye on in the future.

I will be updating the status of my 2006 Blogmatic picks very shortly.

Cheers
Ian Graham