Startup Stories | Chapter 1

Have you ever wondered how a company got started? The highs and the lows of what got them to where they are now? What gave them the initial idea in the first place? Or maybe you’re more interested in the process of selling a startup and what happens next.

Join the Capital Investment Network, Women's Equity Lab and VIATEC for Startup Stories, an event series where we chat with 2 local startup founders to hear their stories directly from the source.

Each session will consist of:

• An Impact Founder – These startup founders are in the middle of their startup and can shine a light on starting a company and experience in fundraising. They have solid growth, but are still growing a brand (over 1 year of experience)
• A RocketShip Startup – These startup founders are much the same as Impact Founders,  but have more experience (5+ years). The majority of these Rocketship Founders have had an exit or are close to selling their startup, with more highs and lows along the way.

Chapter 1 - January 13th

• Welcome
• Impact Founder:Julie Angus, Open Ocean Robotics, followed by Q&A - 15min
• RocketShip Startup:Steven Myhill-Jones, Latitude Geographics (>>VertiGIS), plus Q&A - 25min
• Closing

RocketShip Startup Bio:

Steven Myhill-Jones is a local entrepreneur, technology executive, and angel investor. On his last day of being an undergrad student at the University of Victoria in 1999, Steven founded local mapping/GIS software company Latitude Geographics (now VertiGIS). He and his colleagues bootstrapped the firm, eventually growing to 140 employees and serving more than 1400 customers around the world (ranging from small local municipalities to the United Nations). Latitude Geographics was acquired in 2017, and Steven remained in the CEO role for a year following the acquisition. In this informal presentation, Steven will share his entrepreneurial story, including various lessons learned at different stages of being part of building Latitude and his reflections on exits.