A humble beginning for a lofty ambition

Last evening we held the first meetup.

There were two of us. That’s right — two. Myself and a gentleman called Glen.

I nonetheless consider it a success.

For one thing, the food was great, and we had an interesting conversation about our mutual philosophies and our individual takes about technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Glen is a veteran of the tech industry with a rich experience.

We both see eye-to-eye regarding the ideology of our Meetup group, The Toronto Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.

Let me state what that is: we are fostering a tight-knit and supportive startup community in Toronto based on the idea of giving-before-getting.

A lot can be done to make the tech scene very special here in Toronto, and that largely consists of caring about it and contributing to it. In other words, what’s needed, in my opinion, is the opposite of “looking out for number one” and “what’s in it for me?”

A least now there is a small nucleus from which we can grow this thing.

Glen and I shall both talk to other people about the group.

And it will be great to gradually have more people join us.

So I encourage everyone to decide to take some part in making the Toronto startup community really bond together — even if you'd end up not joining our particular endeavor.

(Perhaps you’re doing that already, and to a much higher level than I am even. If that’s the case, please reach out to me so I know who you are. If nothing else, it'll minimally make for an interesting communication exchange.)

All it takes is a “why not” attitude and a mindset to get involved without expecting nothing specific or concrete in return. Karma will take care of that.

Building such a community is a long term effort. It doesn’t have to start with a bang — if members who truly share the ethos get added bit by bit over time, the results will be pretty dramatic.

And this effort is not just about the meetups themselves. It is about fostering a vibrant group which will subsequently communicate using multiple channels to stay connected.