Greater risks can ramp up the potential for greater rewards
Granted, forging ahead in the face of so much uncertainty can be daunting for even the most optimistic founder. This year’s Global Entrepreneurship Monitor shows while more people agree it’s becoming easier to start a business, the fear of failure increasingly holds them back.
On the flip side, the Monitor highlights a number of environmental factors essential to supporting entrepreneurship: improved regulatory frameworks,favourable tax policies, engaged public/private ecosystems and incentivized investments. Many of these are already gaining traction in Canada.
Ahead of Canada’s federal 2025 budget, the Business Council of Canada joined a chorus of industry and other voices, calling for the government to commit to a pro-growth structural reform agenda. By the end of the year, the federal government launched a Major Projects Office to prioritize nation-building projects in Canada’s interest. Among those priorities are meaningful focus on AI, quantum computing and advanced technologies, along with streamlined processes and less red tape to get projects off the ground. The budget also proposed investments like $1b in funding to launch a new Venture and Growth Capital Catalyst Initiative and enhancements to the Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SRED) program, among other initiatives.
Those building blocks lend themselves to fostering the kind of environment entrepreneurs require to move forward despite disruption. For Sonya Shorey’s part, keeping informed of updates like these is like topping up fuel in the founder’s tank. Shorey is President and CEO of Invest Ottawa, the lead economy development agency for knowledge-based industries in Canda’s capital.
With more than 25 years of leadership experience in tech, entrepreneurship and investment, Shorey’s seen her fair share of economic cycles and disruptive forces. She says a founder’s understanding of how each change impacts the business and presents opportunity is hugely important to long-term success.
“It’s very unpredictable in the current environment, especially to the south of us,” says Shorey. “Being agile, always on guard, and staying on top of the latest information and how it impacts the business has become almost a standard part of their operating model.”
To that end, tech founders who set fear aside and capitalize on these possibilities may just find tumult can be a stepping stone to sustainable growth.
Theory to action: next steps for Canada’s tech founders
A bold mindset is only one piece of the puzzle. To adapt effectively and make progress in spite of so much volatility, founders will need to do things differently going forward.
For example, the entrepreneurial ecosystem becomes increasingly important in challenging times. As entrepreneurs home in on multiple futures and paths, new ways to collaborate — even with previously unlikely partners — may be a linchpin to momentum.
“You need to consider who you will work with, both geopolitically and in terms of technology focus. What’s the long-term view? Not everyone has the answer but maybe look for partnerships with organizations or companies that are more mature,” says Sylvain Golsse, EY Canada National Global Trade Leader.
Over the last year in particular, Golsse has worked with organizations of all sizes and stages to mitigate the downsides of trade disruption and unearth new growth channels. He says reframing collaboration can be a good way to withstand unpredictable business conditions.
“I think the world is changing so fast that [resilience] is about the ability to partner with an ecosystem,” he says. “The right ecosystem can help founders adapt as conditions change. You cannot build everything by yourself.”
Golsse suggests founders focus less on looking for fast cash and more on ways to bring two to three different entities together, collectively betting on where the market is heading. That doesn’t eliminate the need to secure funding; rather, this is about prioritizing partnerships on an equal footing with cash.
“It might be interesting to explore nontraditional funding and look for companies with strong leadership and good fundamentals, supporting each other through growth.”
While every founder will view financing through their own unique lens — with some bootstrapping to maintain full control and others looking to private equity, venture capital or debt instruments to scale quickly — choosing the right option for the right reasons counts for a lot. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to thriving in a NAVI world. That thinking extends to the way entrepreneurs access capital.
Agnihotri believes founders should consider which funding options position the business to recover from a financial challenge within 30 days — not months or years. “You need to start double-clicking on your business and see how much you are exposed, and where you are exposed.”
They may also want to reconsider traditional metrics that no longer serve the business well. For example, achieving a certain level of monthly recurring revenue (MRR) may be difficult with tariffs changing every other month and economic headwinds continuing to blow. If that’s the case, it’s time to rethink measurement overall.
Doing so can foster the flexibility entrepreneurial businesses need to seize the upsides of disruption. Canadian research shows that during upheavals like the pandemic; new entrepreneurs were more motivated to start up a business out of necessity than opportunity.
From some of the world’s largest automotive manufacturers that were founded during a recession early in the 20th century, to leading tech platforms launched in the gloom of the early 2000s tech bubble: some of today’s biggest brands trace their roots back to adversity. In Canada, the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® Awards program has received 5,000 nominations since 1994. Many of those businesses were founded in uncertain times.
Plusgrade is one of them. Tech founder Ken Harris faced plenty of skepticism when establishing Plusgrade in 2009, as the financial crisis cast a long shadow over markets. He pushed ahead regardless, using technology to democratize travel through a revolutionary, white-label upgrade solution that integrates directly into airline booking systems.
By 2023, Plusgrade was generating over $5b in annual revenues. A year later, Harris was named Canada’s Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024. He’s set a new standard for 200 travel brands in 60 countries.
That entrepreneurial grit gets EY’s Tucker excited about the future of tech in Canada, no matter what the broader environment has in store. He works with companies across the country to drive growth and spur innovative opportunities. And he’s betting on Canadian founders.
“What I love about Canadian ingenuity is our collective drive. We simply don’t give up,” Tucker says. “We have a chance to take the massive amount of change the market’s experienced in recent years and turn this into Canada’s moment. When Canadian entrepreneurs pair the right strategy and tech with inspirational people leadership, extraordinary results emerge.”
