How founders can build personal wealth — not just enterprise value

An inside look at breaking into Canada's defence market

Tech Days Vol. 2 is on the horizon

​​We get a lot of requests for coffee meetings, quick drinks, and “can I pick your brain?” chats about Vancouver tech. We love the curiosity—but we can’t meet one-on-one with everyone.

​So we host open office hours.​

​Every couple of weeks, we post up at a bar or café for informal, no-agenda conversation. Grab a beer, coffee, or tea and come talk to us about whatever’s on your mind—fundraising, storytelling, media, community building, where the ecosystem is heading, or something totally different.

​For most founders, the business is the single largest asset they'll ever own. It's also the most illiquid, the most volatile, and the hardest to separate from personal net worth. Between reinvesting every dollar, deferring salary, and betting on the exit, founders often build tremendous enterprise value while neglecting the personal wealth that's supposed to come with it.

​Vancouver Tech Journal, in partnership with SaaS Wealth Insurance, is bringing together founders, operators, and financial experts to tackle the question most entrepreneurs put off until it's too late: how do you build durable personal wealth when your business is your portfolio?

​​​Vancouver Tech Days is back for round two. Vol. 1 sold out in five days and went over capacity — proof that this city's builders want more than another networking mixer. They want real playbooks from teams that have actually scaled.

​Vol. 1 speakers included Sarah Huggins (Hiive), Don Murray (Safe Software), Edward Chiang (Moment Energy), James Clift (Durable), and Gary Agnew (Ideon Technologies) — and Vol. 2 is shaping up to be even bigger.

​Registration is open for Webinar 3 of DIGITAL's Defence Market Access Series! This series is a free, practical guide to entering Canada's defence market – built for Canadian innovators.  

In this session, co-hosted with Strix, you'll gain an inside look at how Canada's prime defence contractors build supplier partnerships. While Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) obligations create valuable opportunities for Canadian SMEs, ITBs alone don't secure partnerships—primes choose companies that strengthen their programs. Hear directly from prime contractors, successful SMEs, and industry advisors as they share what primes look for in suppliers and how to position your company to compete successfully. 

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Submit an engineering design challenge for 4th year students in electrical and computer engineering at UBC. This is an excellent opportunity to connect with new talent and explore ways that emerging technology can improve your business.

Apply for this cost-sharing grant program that funds small, medium and large enterprises to support skills training for their workforces, including prospective new hires.