#193 — Cold Take: Canada's Deep Tech "valley of death" is still a problem
BDC's Deep Tech Fund collapse highlights Canada's misaligned investment structures and the worsening gap between research and commercialization.
#192 — Cold Take: Canada doesn't have a capital problem, it has a mindset problem
The US bets on grants and matched equity to keep early failure cheap; Canada bets on loans that make early failure personally expensive.
#179 — Cold Take: Startups should never take "venture" debt
While debt can be a useful tool for mature companies, it can also be a deadly trap for early-stage startups.
#172 — Cold Take: Your startup name matters more than you think
Many excellent founders and investors believe that the name of a startup doesn’t matter. Unfortunately, they’re wrong.
#127 — Cold Take: Virality is a myth (mostly)
Broadcast diffusion now happens through networks of everyday creators and trusted small communities, not celebrity spotlights.
#109 — Cold Take: Your North Star is broken if it's just for product
For it to be a true engine of sustainable growth, the North Star Framework must extend beyond the product and engineering.
#104 — Cold Take: Why MEDDIC/MEDDPICC kills Dev Tool startups
Most sales teams do a bunch of low-quality qualification that harm their company's reputation and kill opportunities.
#98 — Cold Take: Stop treating sales reps as your data infrastructure
Most startups are hemorrhaging intelligence from customer conversations while burning through runway on manual data entry instead of revenue generation.
#90 — Cold Take: Companies are stuck in "AI pilot hell"
Enterprises are getting stuck in AI pilot hell. Security, not model performance, is what's stalling adoption.
#81 — Cold Take: Don't go deck-less when pitching investors
Yes, I know it's 2025. And yes, you still (probably) need a presentation deck. A deck is more than just a presentation aid.
#52 — Cold Take: 'No marketing' isn't a badge of honor
Early-stage founders who boast about 'zero marketing' are revealing dangerous gaps in customer understanding.
#48 — Cold Take: Broad automation trumps R&D acceleration
While institutions focus on AI for research breakthroughs, economic data suggests the real value lies in widespread automation.
#42 — Cold Take: Good AI strategy beats good funding
While tech giants pour billions into AI, nimble startups are finding strategic advantages through counter-positioning.
#41 — Cold Take: PLG isn't right for most early-stage startups
Founders are rushing to PLG too early, missing the crucial feedback loop that only comes from direct customer engagement.
#33 — Cold Take: Nontechnical SaaS founders need a CMO before a CTO
Marketing co-founders often outperform technical ones for early success in today's SaaS landscape.
#29 — Cold Take: Sales prospecting is an engineering problem
Founders are replacing traditional SDR teams with automated prospecting pipelines, turning sales development into engineering.
#28 — Cold Take: Don't price your enterprise product until you have to
Good pricing is about figuring out what your concrete value is to an organization: don't rush it.
#24 — Cold Take: You're going to fail your first pilot, and that's okay
Most startups fail their first pilot, but successful founders use these early setbacks to gather critical feedback.
#0 — Introducing Field⸻Notes
Founders have a hard job. The stakes have never been higher. AI is transforming every industry and unlocking unprecedented opportunities, but the competition is stiff (and well funded). These are notes from our team, who has decades of experience finding the right positioning, product direction, and go-to-market strategy for world-class startups. We hope they help. Good luck out there.