So our next event is upon us! We’re days away from “Now More than Ever” our unprecedented speaker session and mixer aimed at delivering the message to young entrepreneurs that despite economic uncertainty, turmoil and fear - they can start and grow successful companies. I’m excited to say that we officially sold out a few days ago so we can expect another packed house full of thriving, energetic young minds.

As exciting as all of this is - the team is focused on executing the details and ensuring we deliver an exceptional event to all attendees. With that said, if you’re registered to attend - there are some things you may want to know beforehand:

• The event is sold out, so unfortunately we can’t accept any new registrants. 
• Doors open at 6PM sharp, with an hour of networking and mingling over drinks and refreshments (so arrive early!)
• If you’ve opted to pay at the door when you registered, make sure you remember to bring $6 to the event to pay for your cover.
• Dress code? We don’t like dress codes. Wear what you’re comfortable in.
• Your ticket price includes your first drink and access to Tunnel’s night event later in the evening starting at 10PM.
• Come prepared to network! Through our marketing channels we’re able to bring out a real diverse crowd of young entrepreneurs, innovators, mentors, professionals and investors. Come early and stay a little longer and take advantage of this unique opportunity to make new friends and connections.

That’s the new catch-phrase for Enterprize Canada 2009. I used to run Enterprize 2007, and back then we hastily came up with: Driving Entrepreneurship. Needless to say, I like the new catch-phrase more.

If you haven’t heard of Enterprize, its one of the largest student entrepreneurship conferences and business plan competitions in the country. It’s put on by a dedicated group of students right here in Vancouver at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. A three-day, 450 student conference and business plan competition is run by a group of volunteer university students may be hard to believe, but that’s the way its been since the inception of this fantastic program several years ago. This year, the event will be held from February 6-8 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and will feature speaker sessions, workshops and networking opportunities that would be valuable to any college or university student looking to start their business in the near future.

Interesting thoughts from Paul Graham at Y-Combinator on why now is not such a bad time to start a start-up (it matters who you are, not when you do it), how to make your start-up recession-proof and what your mindset should be, as both an investor and a founder, in dealing with these troubling economic times. This post is a must-read for all aspiring entrepreneurs and we’ll be doing something with this theme at our next event (which we’ll be announcing shortly).

Geordie Rose from D-Wave Systems speaks about obtaining funding, thinking big, and being persistent.

When I started Appnovation Technologies over a year and a half ago, it was just me and a contractor. About 2 months after starting the business, I hired our first employee. We now have a staff of 12 people at the company.

There are a number of tricky areas when hiring your employees. They include:

• interview process
• employment contract
• payroll

Interview Process

When I started the company, we had no interview process. All I did was post up ADs on job boards, collect responses, and set up interviews. Each candidate is asked a different set of questions, and I just decide on who to hire based on my gut feeling. While this worked for a few months, I later learned that I am not able to objectively choose candidates based on how their skills match the job description and how they will fit well with the organization.