Jeffrey Morgan

Sidewalk Labs (Part of Google), another showcase of Canadian politicians bending over for a big US corp, with ZERO tangible results 💩 Roxana and I attended a "private investor demo" session in 2019. A block of wood was passed among the audience, supposedly the NEXT BIG BREAKTHROUGH in urban development! Demo concluded, by observing a piece of wood! Building blocks of future skyscrapers! The promise? With this, Google will build a "Smart City" for us, the peasants of Toronto, in Queens Quay 🏖️🏢 Sidewalk Labs' website now points to a newer Google scam, it reads: "Build Sustainably with Google Earth"! Bait and switch, but let enough time pass so no one remembers 🤢 https://lnkd.in/gd3B-a6m Guess now the investors and Ontario Government | Gouvernement de l’Ontario have shit loads of these wooden blocks, ready to shove up somewhere, to find a use for! All because the name "Bloomberg" sounds authoritative enough to our ears? Surely that's capital well spent, instead of investing in local talent! 🤔 Will Canada's tech ecosystem ever crawl out of Silicon Valley's shadow, and stand on its own? ⌚👀⛔

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My 7-year journey via Maple VC with Clay. Thanks Josh Scott at BetaKit for covering the story. I was first introduced to Kareem Amin through a fellow Canadian expat and now Maple founder, Michael Hershfield of Accrue Savings. They first met working at Sailthru in NYC where Kareem sold his first company. In 2016, Kareem started to tinker on new ideas with his cofounder Nicolae Rusan and I was fortunate to meet them at this time. This happened to align with me establishing Maple 1 in November 2016 on the simple thesis of backing Canadians building in America. We noticed that Canadian expats, who graduate from Canadian universities, go on to build some of the biggest companies in tech – Uber, Slack, Instacart, Notion, Faire, Databricks, Cloudflare, Roblox and most recently, OpenAI. Kareem and Nicolae seemed to match this pattern as two graduates from McGill University building in the US. In 2017, they landed on a very clear mission to make programming accessible to all. They painted a picture of replacing the black terminal that developers use, with a spreadsheet that is connected to the internet which could allow non-developers to automate work. What we saw immediately that gave us conviction was a very big ambition (making programming accessible to all) with a unique insight (using a spreadsheet) via a new method of no-code tooling. This reminded us of the early days at Uber: The promise to deliver you anything (big ambition) by starting with a black car that takes you from point A to point B (unique insight) via your phone (new method). We first committed to investing in Clay in Jan 2017 before the company had a lead. In June 2017, we were thrilled to learn that First Round Capital was going to lead their Seed. Sequoia Capital led the Series A in June 2019, which was surprising, since we had no revenue and were still figuring things out. However, the low-code no-code category was starting to take off. Then, they spent the next 3 years figuring out where to focus. During this phase it was fascinating to witness the many disbelievers. We had folks tell us that we should mark this investment to $0. In late 2021, they decided to narrowly focus on automating sales and this turned out to be the big unlock. Varun Anand joined as a cofounder leading their GTM efforts. The timing played out beautifully with new LLMs that we could use to automate growth in a way that hadn’t been done before. Clay relaunched in Feb 2022 with $0 in revenue and has not looked back since. We 10x’d two years in a row, all organically, achieving 100k users, 2500+ customers, and 11k people exchanging ideas in our Slack community. Maple has tripled down since the Seed through the Series B which was just led by Meritech Capital. We have a strong feeling that Clay has a real shot at realizing that vision they first shared with us 7 years ago.

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Collision Conf is one of the biggest tech+AI events in North America and I am looking forward to learning more in this exploding space. If anyone is heading that way, feel free to ping and we can connect! #AI #generativeAI #digitaltransformation

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There goes another unstressed 🧘 month building atono... We are four months in to building in public, so some updates to share: 🇨🇦 People: 13 co-founder-employees based in Western Canada, eh 🥳 Culture: v1.0 covering our Principles, tenants and game rules, check ✏️ Design: Research and focus groups complete. Roadmap to MVP complete.  Mocks built through May. Looking into customer forums next (slack or reddit?) 🏗️ Build: MVP level provisioning, users, teams, roles & permissions with automated testing. Now we're building the fun stuff: stories, backlogs, bugs, slack integration and other goodies 🛒 Marketing: Tone & voice guide, v1 ICP, v1 Buyer's Journey (scaffolding and tooling needed), pricing, packaging and legals - now starting on our website, oh yeah mustn't forget that 💰 Other stuff: Closed our Seed Round 🙌, implemented an accounting system, bank accounts, corp filings, health ins, payroll, etc. Being cash-careful and stretching

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I’d like to extend a huge thank you to the Google Cloud team for inviting me to join the panel at their “AI Startup Trailblazers” event in Toronto last week. ICYMI; here’s what I shared. 🤝 Mantle's approach to leveraging AI is simple: we want AI to assist our end users’ workflows rather than replace them. 🕒 Mantle has disrupted the cap table management space by utilizing LLMs, slimming down the onboarding and document processing time from what would traditionally take weeks to minutes. ✅ Not only does this greatly increase the trust that the data you see in-platform up-to-date and accurate, but it also enables a next-generation in terms of customer experience. If you're interested in learning more, I published an article with Google where we dive more into Mantle’s AI-driven document integration. You can check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gKNzum_6 Big shoutout to Alison Drader Nida Khan Michael Huang Stephan Bitton for being awesome hosts and running an amazing event!

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🎉 Reflecting on a Decade of Innovation and Teamwork at PSPDFKit 🎉 Today marks a significant milestone in my journey—not just as a CEO, but as a member of an incredible team. Ten years ago, 🦄 Peter Steinberger and I sat down at Mel’s Diner in San Francisco, fueled by coffee and big dreams. Little did we know that, together with Martin Schürrer, we'd grow PSPDFKit from an iOS framework to view and annotate PDFs to what we are today — a leader in the document technology space, helping the world innovate beyond paper. I often think about a quote from Bill Gates: “You always overestimate what you will accomplish in a year and underestimate what you can accomplish in 10 years.” Looking back over the last decade, I can say these words have been accurate in my journey. We've grown from a small team to a global force, with over 140 dedicated people around the globe, with special thanks to a strategic $100 million investment from Insight Partners. This journey has been about more than just business growth — it's really been about the people. I'm deeply grateful for every team member, past and present, who's joined us on this path. Your passion, innovation, and dedication to continuous improvement have turned ambitious goals into our shared reality. What truly inspires me isn't just what we've achieved — it's in the way we've lived it. This journey has been one of the most rewarding in my life, especially in terms of friends I’ve met from all over the world, challenges we’ve overcome together, and the personal growth I’ve experienced because of them. The truth is, the story is much less about me or any one of us and more about what a passionate group of people working for one another can accomplish together. I’m proud to be a part of this group. As I stand at this 10-year mark, I'm more excited for the next decade than I was the last. We're poised to push the boundaries of what's possible with documents. Thank you for being part of this remarkable journey. Your support and dedication fuel my commitment every day. Here's to continuing our adventure together, driving innovation, and evolving the human experience with documents. Let's dream bigger and aim higher — together. #PSPDFKit #anniversary #teamwork #innovation #techleadership #thankyou #appreciation

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Too often, we get caught up in pursuing perfect outcomes, forgetting that innovation is a journey of trial and error. Check out my full Dialog interview with Mourad Zerroug, CTO at Splash (SplashThat.com): https://lnkd.in/eMgEyBt9

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Spent a wonderful week in Canada with family! Now back to business.. Here's your weekly AI update: 🔙 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬: 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 Week 51 | August 5 - August 11 The OpenAI Brain Drain Industry: 🚨OpenAI co-founder John Schulman leaves for Anthropic; President Greg Brockman is taking extended leave through the end of year. What's interesting is that three of their most technical co-founders (Ilya Sutskever, John Schulman, Andrej Karpathy) have all left the company now. This then begs the question - is this a result of natural silicon-valley attrition, or is there something deeper going on here? And moreover, how will this impact the technical moat that OpenAI has built over the years? (https://lnkd.in/gztRKhwV) 🚨Google announced that new Gemini AI-powered features will be incorporated in a variety of home devices, such as Google Home and Nest (https://lnkd.in/gV2QacAQ?). It also announced a significant reduction in token cost of Gemini 1.5 Flash (https://lnkd.in/gbNe6yNU?) 🚨Figure releases Figure 02, it's newest humanoid robot. Figure has been actively testing robots with BMW at a manufacturing plant. Figure last raised $675M Series B in February 2024, valuing the company at $2.6 billion. (https://lnkd.in/gZnPSke4) 🚨Mark Zuckerberg said on Meta's Q2 earning call that to train Llama 4, the company will need 10x more compute than what was needed to train Llama 3. (https://lnkd.in/g5pEPrTw?) 🚨Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, renewing claims that the company is betraying its founding aims of benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits. (https://lnkd.in/gAk5grU6) Financing and M&A: 🚨Groq raises $640m in Series D at a $2.8B valuation. The round was led by Blackrock Private Equity Partners with participation from other investors such as Neuberger Berman, Type One Ventures, Cisco, KDDI, and Samsung Catalyst Fund. (https://lnkd.in/gRtKQKvW?) 🚨Hugging Face acquires Seattle data storage startup Xethub. The HF team plans to integrate Xethub's backend storage technology, enabling developers to host more large models and datasets than currently possible. CEO Clem Delangue 🤗 confirmed this was the largest acquisition the company has made thus far. (https://lnkd.in/g8fJ-BjT) 🚨OpenAI is leading a $60m Series B funding round for Opal Camera, a maker of professional-grade webcams(https://lnkd.in/gMT9dkTG) 🚨ProRata.ai a company that has invented an attribution technology to properly compensate content owners, has raised a $25m Series A, led by Prime Movers Lab, Mayfield Fund and Revolution Ventures. (https://lnkd.in/gumjbWmj) R&D: 🚨Alibaba Group releases Qwen2-math, a SOTA model for math-specific tasks. (https://lnkd.in/g8Jh3M7T?) Other Interesting Resources: 🚨 Between May and August, more Humane AI Pins were returned than purchased (https://lnkd.in/gy56qpKm?). 😯

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Let's talk about the #SaaSApocalypse happening right now with AI eating SaaS at @ElevateFestival

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We've seen this so many times. Your brand/customers/product is unique, but that doesn't mean you should reinvent the wheel with your commerce/marketing stack experience. When brands choose heavily-customized tech stacks, it usually leads to high implementation & maintenance costs. But more importantly, it makes it difficult to iterate down the line. You'll be stuck with your "custom" ecom site, loyalty program, unique UX for years - while your competitors will blow past you with "out of the box" tools.

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Just had to share this gem from Collision Conf in #Toronto. Among the #startups and VCs, I spotted a guy with a shirt saying, "Ask me about my CAC." Naturally, I asked. Sebastian Fallenbüchl, BASc., the wearer, shot back, "My CAC is getting lower as you just approached me." Genius. Seb’s witty remark was more than just a laugh — it was a reminder that business is about people. Metrics like CAC are crucial, but so are the connections and conversations that drive them down. Takeaway? Be #approachable. Humor and humanity can make all the difference. Thanks for the insight and the laugh, Seb. Here’s to more moments like these! #Networking #BusinessInsights

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Looking forward to sharing GenAI insights in a conversation between investors and operators. See you at Invest!

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Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez says that #1 blocker for Enterprise GenAI use cases is data privacy and #2 blocker is the cost (implies ROI). He also explained what Canadian AI startup, Cohere does and how they make money. A must watch for anyone who is interested in Enterprise GenAI use cases. He also said that GenAI fear mongering is cheap ways to get attention (I am paraphrasing, he didn’t use the word cheap). Quite a bit commentary on Google Cloud AI developments as well. Other mentions Oracle and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Aidan comes across as a mature tech leader for his young age. He sounds more realistic and less me too, in GenAI hyped era. Aidan was talking to CNBC’s Steve Kovach. https://lnkd.in/g36SFYfn ____________________ Last month, Cohere has raised $450 million in funding from returning investors such as Nvidia and Salesforce Ventures, as well as new investors including Cisco and Canadian pension fund PSP Investments cc David Vellante David Linthicum John Furrier Ron Miller Shelly DeMotte Kramer Robert Hof

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We turned a skeptic into a full-fledged AI believer after closing a deal driven entirely by AI within just 30 days of launch. Two weeks ago, we went live with Zemlar Offices, Ontario's largest co-working operator with over 25 buildings. The Challenge: - High volume of inbound leads 24/7 - Leads coming from 10+ third-party sites - Limited capacity to respond quickly and convert effectively Waleed R. Javed, ZEMLAR Offices head of sales, knew there was money left on the table due to these challenges. But Zemlar was cautious about AI solutions after being burned before by a provider that couldn't handle their unique, complex workflows and that hallucinated too often. Fast forward two weeks: Our AI agent autonomously closed a sale for one of Zemlar's products. No human intervention. No phone calls. No 60-minute meetings. Just pure, efficient AI-driven sales. All in all, companies with genuine challenges are often the most open to trying new solutions. Past disappointments with AI can lead to caution, but also to greater appreciation when the right solution comes along. And in the next 6-12 months, most businesses will start to realize that AI Isn't replacing humans. It's augmenting their capabilities, handling routine tasks so the sales team can focus on high-value interactions. P.S. Are you still skeptical?

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Yesterday, I put my hardhat on and got to work. No, not metaphorically speaking... I mean that in the actual sense (see photos for proof). We had a strategic on-site for our team here in the Vancouver area. [We're all remote in this part of the world, so we don't go offsite, we go onsite]. The theme: It is time to work. We rented out an industrial warehouse space and old-schooled it without Google Slides. The one rule: if you were standing, you had to put your hard hat on. After all, if we're building the "factory of the future" in which so much of the business will be automated, the "factory of the present" is a dangerous place to be. As such, ensure that your head is always protected. I say often, including on our website over here at www.TravelAI.com, that the factory of the future will consist of one man and one dog. The man's job is to feed to the dog. The dog's job is to ensure that the man does not touch the machine. In the age of AI, humanity's job will be to infuse the soul into the machine. Thus, very much related, I thoroughly enjoyed @shaanpuri's post from earlier today about showmanship: It is easy to take yourself too seriously in work and in life. Sometimes all that it takes to stand out is to put on a hard hat, and do the damn work.

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Toronto Startup Guide for Founders. Thank you Yoran Beisher and Michael Liu for pulling this map together and for keeping it up to date 🙌 #CommunityBuilders Now, who can do this and update the old Montreal Startup Guide for Founders?

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"Entrepreneurship is painful and sometimes rewarding." This quote naturally came out during a check-in call with my good friend and fellow entrepreneur, Gilad, who is building a great product at Sequence (I just wish they were available in Canada) 😢 As soon as I said it, both Gilad and I reflected on how true that statement is in describing the journey of building something. Shoutout to all the business owners and entrepreneurs out there taking the pain with a pinch of reward. #startupjourney #pain #entrepreneurship #grit

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For the last 11 years, I've had the privilege of teaching product development, design, and entrepreneurship to talented computer science students at the University of Toronto. While having access to the latest educational resources is crucial, what I’ve found truly transformative are the skills of critical thinking, creativity, and vision. These are the tools that drive innovation and change. I couldn’t agree more that staying up to date is important, but applying that knowledge in a unique, forward-thinking way truly revolutionizes the future of work and industry. What further skills should people develop/learn to complement their AI education? #AIeducation #futureofwork #careerdevelopment #backtoschool https://lnkd.in/g6TQEwqF

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Does BC Tech have it right? Next week I'll be on stage with an amazing line up of leaders at the BetaKit Town Hall: Vancouver. From my conversations so far, some clear differences have emerged from the vibes of the Toronto tech sector. -Unequivocal in their belief that BC is where they want to live, and so no question about keeping their companies there. -Just as sick as everyone else with trying to sell in Canada, but seemingly much more at peace with straight to US sales approach. -Stymied in raising in Canada, much more likely to extoll the virtues of bootstrapping and to have avoided the pitfalls of irrational growth -Influenced by their natural surroundings and research communities, more focused on high impact verticals on life science and climate tech, and more likely to raise the potential of tech to address big challenges like forest fires -More likely to praise provincial government programs for getting things right (although quick to shred SR&ED) Not all rosy, to be sure, but some low key BC rizz I'm looking forward to hearing more about.

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