If you've followed along for any amount of time, you'll know that our CEO and Chief Investment Strategist, Sharon Watkins, talks a lot about the mindset change needed to build our city.
Last month, InterGen hosted a private investor event The Starting Line: A Strategy for Early-Stage Investing at Ferrari of Alberta. Sharon joined Darcy Tuer, CEO of InterGen portfolio company ZayZoon, in conversation with Sandi Gilbert, CEO of InterGen, for an honest discussion about what it takes to support the next generation of Alberta growth companies.
As Sharon said, with success comes the responsibility to give back, and that's how you 'build the commons.' We've included a summary of some of Sharon's thoughts on this subject below.
LEANING IN TOGETHER
What kind of city do you want to live in? To build in? To grow old in?
A great founder in an unsupportive ecosystem will struggle. A good founder in a thriving one often succeeds. The difference is not talent alone. It is the city around them: the capital available, the knowledge shared, the connections made freely, and the culture where a win for one founder is proof to everyone else that it is possible here. Calgary has always had grit. The question now is whether we have the right mindset to match it. That starts with how we show up for local builders.
HOW WE BUILD
Private investing is one of the most powerful levers available to shape what this city becomes.* And how we invest matters just as much as why we invest.
CAPITAL RECYCLING
When local companies succeed and exit, that capital needs to stay local. Founders-turned-angels understand what early-stage builders actually need and reinvest back into the next generation. Every successful exit should produce 3-5 new investors.
WARM INTRODUCTIONS OVER COLD PITCHES
The most powerful thing an investor or founder can do is open a door. Introductions to customers, talent, co-investors, and partners compound over time and are the connective tissue of the ecosystem.
SHARING KNOWLEDGE OPENLY
Experienced founders sharing hard lessons (term sheet structures, hiring mistakes, what didn’t work) accelerates everyone. Hoarding that knowledge is an old-economy behaviour. A thriving city treats it as a shared resource.
CO-INVESTING AND SYNDICATING DEALS
Rather than competing for deals, local investors co-investing together de-risks individual positions, increases deal flow quality, and sends a stronger signal to outside capital.
CELEBRATING WINS LOUDLY
Every local success story should be amplified. The next generation of founders needs to see local proof and possibilities.
*Private investing is illiquid by nature. It should be part of a diversified portfolio, not the whole of it. Whether you invest in individual companies or through a basket approach, the key is entering with clear eyes, patient capital, long time horizons, and a genuine interest in the people building.
THE MINDSET SHIFT
What separates ecosystems that stagnate from ones that compound is a change in how people think about their role and responsibility in it.
-2.png?width=621&height=480&name=Cover%20Pic%20(6)-2.png)
BOTTOM LINE
Ecosystems are built by people who give before they get. The investors, founders, and connectors who lean in before there is any immediate return are the ones who ultimately build what’s next. Calgary has the capital, the talent, and the grit. Are we building something worth investing in together?
Markets are uncertain. Your strategy shouldn't be.
Find confidence during confusing times by meeting with one of our wealth professionals.