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April 3, 2023: The Only First-Time Founders Guide You'll Ever Need
plus: more on tonight's Best of Event, meet another Founder taking the TechTO stage, and more
Profile: Sarah Jenna and MIMs
What is MIMs?
MIMs (My Intelligent Machines) is selling open-source software to accelerate Data/ML operationalization & SaaS Delivery.
What was the insight/inspiration that led you to launch it?
Initially, MIMs was selling Augmented Intelligence software for drug discovery. Along this path, we realized that we would have a stronger positioning in the market selling the platform that allowed us to develop and commercialize our algorithms than the algorithm themselves.
So after 7 years, we pivoted.
How has it been received by the market? Why do you think it has been so well received?
The first life of MIMs in the Pharma was an amazing roller coaster, with more than 5M$ in revenue generated with commercialization in North America, Europe, and Asia. The market was very competitive, and difficult and a lot of competitors have been able to raise 100M$ investment. While we had great results, we realized, we would not be able to make it.
We realized one of our strengths was in engineering, and that the massive amount of companies in the AI space, which were our competitors, could actually be our clients.
So recently, we pivoted.
To date, there has been a great response to our new proposition, and we are looking forward to seeing what happens next.
How did you know you were ready to found a company?
I just came up with a problem that I wanted to resolve.
When I arrived at founder fuel in 2017, I knew I was not ready, but I loved it and knew I wanted to do it.
A few months later I began my journey.
How did you meet your founders/know they were the right people to start a company with?
They were collaborators when I was a Prof.
I had a lot of respect for them and we had huge complementary expertise and a desire to work together on this.
Who is the unsung hero on the team? Why?
Aurelien, our product director.
Leading and orchestrating the transformation of our product to launch our first off-the-shelf version of our software in 6 months, is insane. And it worked!
It also allowed us to sign our first client in Asia, one month later. I would found a company with him, anytime!
What are you trying to achieve over the next 12 months?
Validation of our new business model and having MIMs technology deployed in as many companies as possible.
What advice do you wish you had been given prior to launching?
Do not raise too early.
Keep your tech in the early stage as long as possible, and be sure to have a more mature product before you start talking to VCs.
Who are the 5 Canadian startups you like in your market?
I love these entrepreneurs and their companies:
Learn more about Sarah and her journey here
Sarah will be taking the stage at our upcoming Montreal event on April 25!
Best of TechTO is tonight!
We have created a special 'secret' discount for our loyal subscribers!
Check out our Friend & Me discount below to unlock a special discount for our upcoming event tonight, Monday, April 3.
Meet candidates running in the upcoming Toronto Mayoral election, and learn from some of the top Founders in the country. BenchSci, Super, DMZ, and more will be in attendance! You never know who you'll meet!
TICKETS ARE GOING FAST!
LISTEN TO THE NEWEST EPISODE OF QUICK TAKES:
Quick Takes returns this week on April 6
Quick Takes returns LIVE with a brand new episode on April 6 at 12:00 pm ET/9:00 am PT across the TechTO platforms.
Catch up on past episodes here, and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Introducing StartWell
Need meeting or event space for a few hours? A day? A week or more? We can help.
Introducing StartWell - the happiest place to bring your people together in downtown Toronto.
Whether you need space for a board meeting, all-hands, AGM, evening social, live-streamed conference, or anything else, our range of rooms gives you a dependable single-source solution for meeting space.
We’re sure you and your guests will enjoy StartWell’s premium boutique hotel-style experience from the moment they step into our buildings on King Street West. With a complimentary espresso bar at reception, our friendly baristas will welcome and orient your guests whilst preparing their favorite beverages.
Once in your booked suite, you’ll find everything you need to collaborate happier – including easy-to-use presentation materials, turn-key audio-visual technology, and video conferencing tools. In addition to bookable space, our campus offers a wealth of call booths, lounge areas, and hot desks - so your guests can always leave the room to stretch their legs, take private calls or enjoy a barista-crafted coffee from our complimentary reception cafe.
Unique in Toronto, StartWell’s boutique meeting space campus occupies three buildings and includes an in-house and full-service media production company - with studio spaces for producing hybrid event live streams as well as beautiful-looking and sounding video podcasts, software walkthrough videos, and high-end photography.
We would love to have you over for a coffee and meeting - enjoy a massive 50% discount on your first booking at StartWell using our special discount code ‘TechTO’ when using our public calendar.
See you on campus soon!
**Book a campus tour here
*this is sponsored content
Headlines and Content
#ICYMI - Catch up on past newsletters if you hadn't yet subscribed!
Canadian Startup news of the week >> LEARN MORE
Raise News: pH7 Technologies raises $16m USD Series A to continue on their quest to support healthy green recycling processes >> READ MORE
New Program launches for high-growth Canadian companies >> READ MORE
Canada's Crypto Industry consolidates >> READ MORE
Payday wants to power the future of work for Africa >> READ MORE
The First-Time Founders Guide for EVERYTHING >> READ MORE
TechTO Talent
Senior Software Engineer, Included Health (Remote)
Why is this cool? Included Health is a new kind of healthcare company, that delivers integrated virtual care and navigation. They’re on a mission to raise the standard of healthcare for everyone. As a Senior Full Stack Software Engineer, you will join their growing Care Delivery Engineering team to help lead the development of their products in a fast, accessible, and intuitive way. You will closely partner with their Product and Design teams on application design, user experience, developer workflows, deployment strategies, and testing of the applications >> APPLY HERE
VP of Engineering, MINO Games (Remote)
Why is this cool? Mino Games is on a mission to bring the world together through gaming by building the next $100 Billion franchise. They're looking for a VP of Engineering to join their Engineering team to help them build, manage, and scale that team and its processes >> APPLY HERE
*Reply to this email and let us know the jobs you'd like to see
Events and Links
Check out the interesting content, events, and happenings for the community here:
Best of TechTO IS TONIGHT! April 3, 2023 >> REGISTER HERE - LIMITED TICKETS AVAILABLE! Your ticket also includes a free drink and access to our After Party!
*EXCLUSIVE TECHTO INSIDERS SOCIAL: April 13, 2023 >> Learn more about how to attend on our website >> LEARN MORE
TechTO Together RETURNS TO MONTREAL: April 25, 2023 >> REGISTER HERE
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