T H E W E S T E A S T G R O U P
A Great Time
to Be in B.C. Tech
A local founder and angel investor on what it takes to succeed
in today's tech world, the hunt for the "diamond in the rough"
and his new Growth Hacks white paper
B
randon Roe founded his rst
tech company in 1999 and has
received national press for his
ventures. He is a programmer by
trade, and is skilled in marketing,
sales and raising capital. More
recently, he's added "angel
investor" to his resume, specializing in web-
based
B2B software rms.
What got you into tech?
When I was a child, my dad took me to
hobby computer clubs. It was a place for
computer enthusiasts to learn more about
personal computing, swap programs on
5.25" †oppy disks and talk shop. I took
to the whole thing like a sh to water, so
much so that by the time I started learning
to code at the age of 12, I had no trouble
working with the guts of a system on both
the hardware and OS side of things. It was a
natural t to make that my career.
To what do you attribute your success?
I was lucky enough to have successful
people show me the way. My rst mentor
was David Chalk, one of B.C.'s most well-
known tech entrepreneurs and a real
pioneer in the eld. I still use what he
taught me nearly two decades later.
What do you like best about the B.C.
tech scene?
There's so much life! After the tech bubble
burst in 2000, we went through a really
dark time here. But now, there is just so
much support —formally through groups
like TechBC as well as plenty of informal
support. Even the
BDC is funding projects
nowadays!
What's the biggest challenge to the
B.C. tech scene?
The talent shortage and high cost of living
are clearly big issues.
Funding is too. Capital support is still
quite limited here, relative to the number
of good rms. Some of these companies
simply won't get the cash they need to
thrive. And that costs all of us in terms of
lost opportunity.
What do you look for as an angel
investor?
I look for the proverbial diamonds in the
rough—founders who have an interesting
technolo–y in a market that's growing fast.
They don't need to be "businesspeople"
in the traditional sense—they just need to
be really good at delivering what they say
they're going to deliver.
We can help such rms get to the
next level using a mix of various growth
hacks and some good old-fashioned
fundamentals. I cover that in my newest
white paper, Growth Hacks for
B2B Tech
Firms.
Any niche(s) you really like?
I don't really have any favourites, but I
do especially well with web-based B2B
software because I understand both the
technical and marketing side of things
better than most.
■
Growth Hacks for B2B Tech Firms: A proven
model—17 years in development—that's
used to •nd new customers, secure more
capital and increase pro•ts. Please go to:
www.growthhacksforb2btech.com to get
your complimentary copy.
P R O M O T E D C O N T E N T
"I was lucky
enough to have
successful people
show me the way"
