BUILDERS PERSPECTIVE 🔧 

In one of the most enduring essays for founders, Paul Graham urges startups to Do Things That Don’t Scale.

💡 Why? Because great startups don’t just “take off”- they’re built by founders who get their hands dirty.

📦 From Stripe to Airbnb to Tali.ai: Iconic companies started small.

• Stripe hand-installed their API directly on users’ laptops.

• Airbnb knocked on doors with suitcases and took hosts’ photos themselves.
  

• And Tali.ai, a startup in our community shared the following example:

🧠 Lesson: Early users don’t care about scale. They care if you solve their problem right now.

💬 Join the LinkedIn conversation on this topic → Here

🧭 Read Paul Graham’s full essay →  Here

OPPORTUNITIES TO WATCH 👀 

Startup Open House @ Elevate Is Back

This October 9th afternoon, step inside Toronto’s most exciting startups and scaleups during Elevate Festival.

Meet founders, explore offices, and connect with the people building the future of tech.

🚪 Startups & ecosystem partners: Sign up to host

🎟️ Want to attend? RSVP here

Antler wants to get TechTO readers on the fast track

At a TechTO event in February, Antler met an aspiring founder still in a full-time job. After an in-person interview, he joined their March residency, found a co-founder, and is now backed by Antler. How cool is that? A big congrats to Idris Tavassoli and the team at Upliv. If you’re an aspiring builder, this is the sign ✨ you’ve been waiting for.

P.S: Are you building something of value for Canada's tech community? We’d love to feature it. SUBMIT HERE. 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS 📆

Check out these upcoming TechTO events which you will not want to miss

• Together Toronto: Monday, September 8 at 6:00pm- REGISTER HERE

• Health Toronto: Wednesday, September 10 at 6:00pm- REGISTER HERE

• Commerce Toronto: Monday, September 15 at 6:00pm- REGISTER HERE

• Startup Open House Toronto @ Elevate Festival: October 9 at 3:00pm - Learn more and get updates- RSVP HERE

• SAAS NORTH Trip (Ottawa): November 4th-6th- REGISTER HERE

Also check out these other ecosystem events + TechTO only perks:

• ECOM NORTH: September 23rd-24th- REGISTER HERE use coupon techto15 for 15% OFF

• ELEVATE Festival: October 7-9: REGISTER HERE use coupon TECHTOELEVATE for 20% OFF.
  

  TechTO Events Calendar

OTHER QUICK READS 📚️ 

• AI has erased traditional moats- so what now? In this quick read, Mark MacLeod argues that lasting advantage won’t come from tech, but from creativity, excellence, speed, and brand. With AI making execution cheap and fast, the builders who stand out will be the ones who imagine boldly, obsess over quality, move faster than rivals, and create human connections that no algorithm can replicate. Read the full post.

  
  
  

• N49P outlines four winning playbooks for vertical AI startups: AI-powered SaaS, forward-deployed teams, vertically integrated models, and acquiring end users. Each has trade-offs, but together they offer founders clear paths to build durable advantage in niche markets. Read the full post.

BECOME A MEMBER 🫂 

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Have questions about memberships? Book a chat with Megha our Community & Membership Director. She’s pretty sweet. Email her at [email protected].