The story behind this theatre is extremely interesting. It was built back in 1952 when Stratford, a city of less than 30k inhabitants, was going through a structural change in its economy. The city council back then decided to strategically focus on arts and tourism through a very interesting differentiation strategy. They combined the old classical theatre with a twist of new theatre in an old Shakespearean setting where the attendees sit very close to the stage itself.

This strategy has been very successful for the city itself. The theatre generates revenues for the city in the 100+ million Canadian a year and direct taxes worth 50+ million. During the high season the theatre itself employs more than 1000 people and with that is the biggest employer of the city. Annually they produce 14 productions in the 4 theatres they have in town with about 100 shows in each production. Talk about scalability in arts!

What interests me is that the government on a city level has taken a very business like approach to positioning themselves in a blue ocean market and thus making it relevant on a North American scale. It reminds me so much of the situation many of the Finnish cities are in and yet very stubborn to capitalise on those possibilities. There’s so much for the Finns to learn - I’d recommend many of the Finnish politicians on a local level study the strategic road the city of Stratford has taken in the last 100 years. Truly great stuff.

I’m going to be talking about what the ecosystem here in Finland is and how that supports digital innovations and their commercialisation, both in startups and larger corporations. Furthermore, I’m going to be positioning my talk to the private side of the society. I’m going to talk about entrepreneurial experiences regarding the system we’ve built here in Finland and how entrepreneurs and corporationas are, for example, leveraging their R&D costs from organisations such as Tekes.

If you had 30 minutes to talk to the leaders of Canada on digitalisation of the society and economy - what would you like to tell them? What is the most important thing in your opinion for them to take into account when planning the future of Canada?

1. Avoid the cold pitch - meaning that get an introduction from someone who knows the VC. This way you’ll increase your chances of getting through. (src)
2. Starting with “Dear Sir/Madam” when writing to a dude named Jeff is starting off the wrong way. Google the person - whether it is a he or a she.(src)
3. Do the “Monkey test”. Have someone who is not familiar with your business review your email and ask him to tell you what you do. If they don’t understand it - don’t send it. (src)
4. Don’t ever mass mail your e-mail pitch to a ton of investors at the same time. If you want an investment - do take the time to personally approach each one.(src)

Not that obscure to begin with, but since he has to spell these out on Twitter I’m amazed at the quality of communication some people practice.

If you want more tips - have a read at Daniel’s tips on how to approach VCs. Daniel is a partner at Creandum Venture Capital and a good friend so he knows what he’s up to.

I’m guessing the real reason Välimäki couldn’t resist the invitation to be the economic slowdown. Whatever it is, it’s great to see some fresh ideas in my home town being developed for the summer.

He argues that Wired of all publications is having a hard time making the co-operation between online and offline work so it may seem that there isn’t a lot of hope for others. It is extremely hard to make money with online publications, but I’m guessing in the future that is where the consumer time spend will be.

It’s definitely a read for those working with online and offline properties - and for those who want to understand how they work together.

Read more @ bbg.