April 28, 2023: Don't Wait Until You're "Ready" to Start a Business

What is CiteRight?

CiteRight is a collaboration platform that helps litigation teams remove the barriers to drafting and delivering well-researched materials to courts and clients.

Law firms of all sizes across Canada use CiteRight to save, organize, cite, and assemble case law, letting them draft faster and spend more time on what matters.

What was the insight/inspiration that led you to launch it?

CiteRight comes from my own experience working at a very large Toronto law firm.

I found myself doing a lot of repetitive work alongside my legal research and started thinking that maybe there could be some benefit in automating it.

The rest is history!

How has it been received by the market? Why do you think it has been so well received?

CiteRight has been well received by the market, and we have customers from across Canada, including Canada’s largest law firms.

The reason is the approach we’ve taken in understanding the litigation workflow, and in building a product that fits with the way that lawyers already do things, rather than asking them to learn and adopt an entirely new workflow.

How did you know you were ready to found a company?

I don’t know if I ever thought I was “ready”.

I do know that I felt an intense urgency to make CiteRight a reality. It seemed like such a simple idea that fulfilled such a basic need — and the real motivating factor was my fear that someone would come up with the concept before I did!

What has been the hardest thing on your journey so far?

The constant uncertainty, coupled with the highs and lows. Running a startup feels like always walking a very narrow bridge, with disaster on either side. Even after more than 5 years, it can still sometimes feel like we’re 5 minutes away from either enormous success or catastrophic failure!

On the other hand, it’s also been the most creative work I’ve ever done, and I’m grateful every day for the ability to build what I love.

What has been the most pleasant surprise?

The most pleasant surprise has been the level of encouragement and support we’ve received from our customers.

Our earliest customers have been on the same journey we have — they took a risk when we were small and unproven, and they’re genuinely rooting for us.

What is your super strength?

My super strength is my ability to self-teach and empathize with others. I have a natural curiosity and enjoy learning new things — that’s allowed me to build skills I’ve needed to run this company.

What are you trying to achieve over the next 12 months?

The biggest achievement we’re working towards is our launch into the US over the next 12 months.

What is your proudest accomplishment outside of your startup?

Being a supportive spouse and a proud father.

Who are the 5 Canadian startups you like in your market?

I’m inspired by other Canadian legal tech companies and the extraordinary success they’ve achieved.

These include:

• Zuva - easily add contract intelligence to your workflow and apps

• Jurisage - case law insights on demand

• Fidu - the complete client experience platform to build, deliver, and now sell your subscription legal services

• BlueJ Legal - build powerful diagrams in minutes

• Minutebox - the entity management platform trusted by professionals

Learn more about CiteRight and Aaron here

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Cyclic Materials, a Canadian recycler of rare earth elements, raised $27m in Series A funding

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• TechTO Together: TORONTO May 1, 2023: Learn from the greatest Founders, Investors, and Innovators including Janet Bannister, Alex Gould with more announcements coming soon! 

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