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Local high school students from The Abelard School had the chance to learn about the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship up close at DemoCamp (all photos courtesy Creative Destruction Lab)

How to build a startup that succeeds: 6 tips from DemoCamp at 老司机直播鈥檚 Creative Destruction Lab

Advice from the investors, founders and experts at the annual startup showcase
 
Entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and industry analysts from across the country gathered at the University of Toronto May 12 for the DemoCamp showcase hosted by Creative Destruction Lab. 
 
Part of 老司机直播's , Creative Destruction Lab offers DemoCamp once a year. This year's event highlighted hard-earned insights from investors and entrepreneurs through 30 product demos, 12 startup pitches, insider tips from angel investor Haig Farris, a presentation from innovator Steve Mann, founder discussion panels and interaction with its audience of 500.
 
(Interested in applying to join the accelerators next cohort of massively scalable companies? before August 1. Interested in entrepreneurship at 老司机直播? .)
 
Below are six pieces of advice for startups interested in joining ranks with such Creative Destruction Lab alumni as  and  鈥 or for anyone looking to launch their idea.
 
6. FIND A STRONG AND COMMITTED MENTOR
鈥淭he mentorship role is becoming almost as important as the financing role.鈥 鈥 Haig Farris
Bloomberg Business called Haig Farris 鈥渙ne of the most active and successful technology angel investors on the West Coast.鈥 Farris co-founded quantum computing company D-Wave Systems Inc. in 1999 with Geordie Rose, one of Creative Destruction Lab鈥檚 mentors on the 鈥淕7鈥 panel. Farris has been one of the strongest champions of Canada鈥檚 venture capital industry, working to build it over the past 25 years.
 
鈥淭here鈥檚 beginning to be a culture where people who鈥檝e been successful [with startups] are spending a huge amount of their time after selling their businesses to help the next generation get to where they need to go to,鈥 Farris said.
5. ITERATE QUICKLY BASED ON CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
鈥淔or a startup to succeed, you have to listen to customers and iterate as fast as you can.鈥 鈥 Yan Ma
Yan Ma (pictured above, in blue) is one of the co-founders of Perceptiv Labs, a company developing an 鈥渦pgrade kit that turns drones into smart filming tools.鈥 The startup accelerated with help from Creative Destruction Lab as well as the prestigious Y Combinator program in Silicon Valley. While Ma says Perceptiv is aware of other companies competing for a share of their market segment, the important thing is not to get caught up in the work of others and instead stay focused on the customer.
 
4. BOIL DOWN THE PROBLEM YOUR STARTUP IS HELPING TO SOLVE
Steve Mann speaks at DemoCamp
鈥淐an they explain a complex science or engineering problem to me in language I can understand? If they can do that, that鈥檚 a step in the process that鈥檚 a big hurdle for me.鈥 鈥 Haig Farris
Farris said he is often perplexed when founders come to him seeking investment but can鈥檛 simply describe their startup. 鈥淚鈥檓 a lawyer, I鈥檝e never had a science course in my life,鈥 he said, adding that being able to describe the startup and its technology in simple terms reflects 鈥渉ow well they understand the problem itself.鈥
 
3. CREATE AND TAKE RISKS TO ACHIEVE TRUE INNOVATION
鈥淓very great institution has to have a junk pile, a sense of 鈥榯inquiry.鈥欌
鈥 Steve Mann
Mann (pictured right) spoke at DemoCamp on the important process of tinkering and inquiry 鈥 which he calls 鈥榯inquiry鈥 鈥 in fostering innovation. Known by some as 鈥渢he father of wearable computing,鈥 Mann is a seasoned inventor, entrepreneur, researcher at 老司机直播鈥檚 department of electrical and computer engineering 鈥 and recently signed on as Creative Destruction Lab鈥檚 chief scientist. He presented one of his latest projects, META Augmented Reality glasses.
 
2. READ. EVERYTHING.
鈥淓very person I鈥檝e ever backed that鈥檚 been really successful has always been a good reader.鈥 鈥 Haig Farris
鈥淥ne thing I always look for, I always ask anybody I鈥檓 talking to: what have you just read? The really successful entrepreneurs, chances are they鈥檝e got a reading list that鈥檚 extremely broad,鈥 said Farris (pictured right with Ajay Agrawal).
 
鈥淲hat that shows is they have a mind that鈥檚 not only educated but it鈥檚 curious and it wants to keep on learning new things. They read philosophy, they read poetry, they read science,鈥 he added.
 
鈥淓verything that鈥檚 of interest is important.鈥
 
1. ASK FOR HELP 鈥 AND HELP OTHERS, TOO
鈥淪ilicon Valley has an incredible culture of helpfulness. The more we can have people at all levels, including universities and governments, encouraging this helpfulness for those who are trying to do something that鈥檚 very difficult to do, the better off we鈥檒l be.鈥 鈥 Ajay Agrawal
Ajay Agrawal founded Creative Destruction Lab and serves as Peter Munk Professor of Entrepreneurship at 老司机直播鈥檚 Rotman School of Management. In addition to aggressively building the ecosystem of startups developing at the university, Agrawal also co-founded and supports The Next 36, an entrepreneurship leadership program for students and recent graduates.
 
Brianna Goldberg writes about entrepreneurship and produces .
 
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