Alberta Chapter President on the Province’s Startup Ecosystem

Emmet McGonagle

Jun 20, 2022

Mark Mitchell has discussed the cohesion of wearing “both hats” as both Alberta chapter president at Valhalla Private Capital and principal and director at Red Thread Ventures - an investment and advisory community which aims to support the startup ecosystem in British Columbia and further afield.


Covering “how to invest in early stage companies in Western Canada” with
Tyler Chisholm, host and founder of Collisions YYC on episode 168 of the Current & Critical podcast, Mark remarked that while there are “tons of deals”, there may be a shortage of deals which he thinks are “truly investable”.


On the topic, he explained: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 


“There's a lot of potential for deals that aren't necessarily investable today, but how do [these companies] gain the polish and refinement they would need to get people excited about parting with their money?”


He continued: “There's more and more of those deals popping up too, so how do we increase the velocity of those investments?”


Investing with ‘Impact’


Addressing the issue of making these investments more refined, Mark hailed “impact” as a significant factor within his investment thesis.


On the topic, he elaborated: “I like to think of the word ‘impact’ in the context of ‘is the problem you're solving a real problem that makes sense? Is it going to be something that people will pay money for? Does it have a true bearing in the world? Is it something that's going to persist if you don't solve it over the next decade or so?’


“Whatever [entrepreneurs are] solving has to be something obvious that really makes sense,” he continued. “If we think about it hard for 10 minutes, we don't get it. It has to be the kind of a real problem that anyone could resonate with. 


“You shouldn't have to think too hard about it.”


Do you have a question about angel investing? Get in touch with Valhalla Private Capital via our
contact page.

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