The Canadian startup ecosystem is largely defined by the massive Toronto tech meetups we have. For early-stage founders, these meetups can be overwhelming, and for introverts, they are often not even an option. As founders navigating the ecosystem to grow your company, meetups, events, and conferences should be part of your repertoire, and they need to actually work.
This begs the question: why don’t these meetups really work?
1. Sales-Pitch Central
These meetups have become ground zero for handing out business cards and delivering sales pitches rather than meaningful connections.
2. Not Introvert-Friendly
If you’re an introvert, these events can be extremely overwhelming. The format forces awkward small talk, crowded rooms, and rapid-fire conversations with strangers. Real relationships rarely start that way.
Many talented founders simply avoid these meetups altogether because the environment feels exhausting rather than helpful. A good event should create space for thoughtful conversations, not just loud networking chaos.
3. Massive Rooms, Minimal Value
How Many People Can You Actually Meet in a Room of 500? It’s not practical. From my experience, rooms larger than 100 tend to be chaotic and ineffective for real networking.
4. It’s All Fundraising and Blah Blah
The main focus of these events is often fundraising, but 99% of startups don’t actually need to raise money—they need customers.
We need to rethink how we design the ecosystem for founders in Canada. That starts with hosting events that actually deliver value. Let’s bring in real founders who have built businesses in Canada. Bootstrapping, anyone?
