What Would Alex Bosika Do?

Talk about tipping points.  Small things do make a big difference.

After completing SIX YEARS as co-founder of MobileMonday Toronto with our May 2012 end of season event, here are some markers:

• 40+ events
• 15+ sponsors
• 30+ venture capital pitches
• 10+ moderators
• 40+ panelists
• 5 MobileMonday Toronto volunteers
• Cumulative attendance total: 25,000 attendees
• 2 MoMo Camp winners
• 50 cross-event promotional offers

After 5 years, we can say that MobileMonday Toronto has been a raging success. Thanks Jim Brown, my colleague and co-founder, and the helping hands of the rest of the MoMo team (Dal Layal, Jolon Craw, Janine Chin and Nick Van Vlymen) for helping us reach the tipping point in our fifth year of operation.

It started with a “fire” in the heart of two individuals with an entrepreneur bent.  Jim and I met through the kind folks at MobileMonday New York to help bring “community” to Toronto’s mobile ecosystem.  Along the way, our friends from the Fort York Armory to Dunedain Multimedia became our hosts as we kept “grassroots” alive and well.  We then partnered with MaRS Discovery District to bring location, audio visual expertise, and a premium networking facility to the table.

Building a community is hard work.  You have to enjoy networking, meeting people, building programs, and running operations…for FREE.  The secret ingredient is passion and a willingness to do things for the greater good.  Jim Brown and I worked many summers, nights and weekends to build strategy for event themes, chasing down speakers, and finding sponsors to build the platform for top-notch events.  In the past two years, we had a breakout growth curve.  My efforts in sponsorship fundraising for non-profit operations netted tier-1 mobile ecosystem brands and six-figure sponsorship funding.  Our sponsors have been fantastic!

I want to thank them all:

• Marketwire
• Canadian Wireless Telecommunication Association
• Miller Thomson
• BDC
• Nokia
• Blackberry
• Windows Phone
• Telus
• Rogers Catalyst
• Public Mobile
• WIND Mobile
• Mobilicity
• Redknee
• Dunedain Multimedia
• The Working Group
• MarketingProfs
• SAP Canada Inc.

Without the support of the community, our sponsors, our event partners like MaRS - The Fort York Armory - Dunedain Multimedia, and our volunteer crew of Dal, Jolon, Janine and Nick — Jim Brown and I could not have taken our small idea and grown it to a level where MobileMonday Toronto is today.

It has been a heck of a ride and truly fun.  Our Venture Capital 2012 Pitch was one of the best pitch events to date.  The business models, the technology, and the pitches were top-notch.  Even our top venture capital panel concluded that things had come “full circle” in the Toronto ecosystem for mobile concepts.  A job well done to all the entrepreneurs!

Alexander S Bosika, Co-Founder, MobileMonday Toronto, 647-781-4005

7th Annual MobileMonday Toronto VC Panel Pitch from MaRS Discovery District on Vimeo.

Watch this video to hear from Toronto’s most innovative mobile companies as they pitch to a VC panel to fund their business.

Sean Wise, Managing Director at Wise Mentor Capital, moderated the session. The investor and expert panel participated in a discussion while listening to the presenting companies as they explained their business.