I will be participating in Startup Week in Edmonton this week. I am really excited to meet Ken Bautista and the Startup Community there. Ken Bautista, the Co-founder of Startup Edmonton is leading the effort in Edmonton. Ken has written some insightful articles about the challenges and what they are doing in their community. I am really inspired by the Entrepreneurial mindset that Ken has brought into the Economic Development institutions in the Alberta region. He is a leader who has really jumped into the other side of the table i.e Feeders (for more on leaders and feeders, read Brad Feld’s book Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City) and is bringing about change.

Ken and I are kindred spirits, we have connected at a subconscious level on our journey in building Startup Communities. Ken brought a whole team from Edmonton to Startup Iceland and it was a blast. I enjoyed our connection and conversations. I was honored to be invited to Edmonton to give a breakfast talk on what we are doing in the Nordic Region. I have not written about all the pieces that are moving in this small island in the Atlantic. I will write a more detailed post about that. Trust me it is all good. We are punching way above our weight in building a really sustainable startup community. Coming back to Edmonton, I am also excited to share the stage with Haukur Gudjonsson, the Founder of Bungalo and the Viking Entrepreneur. If you are in Edmonton, please reach out to me. I would love to meet and say hello.