see you at Acceleratorfest 2023

Last week, we announced with startupfest the program for acceleratorfest 2023, a premium festival for gas pedals. This year, as in previous editions, main was in charge of content curation.

my team and i couldn't be prouder of the story that will be told in the afternoon of july 12, 2023. we may not remember the date, or the colorful outfit worn by our host louis-félix binette (see photo at the top of this post), but we will remember the essence of the discussions we had that day.

and we'll be sure of having had discussions that met the challenges of our times.

we'll probably remember the view of montreal from the port of montreal tower, too.

the story we'll be telling on july 12 is one we feel in our guts.
we started with a few topics we felt we couldn't ignore. here's a fairly accurate representation of our train of thought:
- It absolutely requires an IP panel!
- a panel on data too!
- IP isn't an end, it's a means to an end. the same goes for data management."

AS SIMON SINEK WOULD SAY: "START WITH WHY.

we're back to basics. is it ip, or data, that's changing the world? no.

it's the entrepreneur and his mission that change the world. and they do it by using levers like pi or data management.

we have more than equal panels, too, and it's effortless to achieve this. every woman in the line-up has been chosen and invited for her specific curriculum, not to fill a slot on the schedule.

we wanted to show off some new faces, too, who've come from far and wide to be with us. we've got caroline from geneva, marwan from paris, frances from new york, chris from edmonton, joelle from winnipeg...

first, we're inspired by founderfuel's katy yam, who'll probably be expiring a bit after having had some "broue dans le toupet" the day before for their legendary demo day(don't miss it, by the way).

The aim is to step outside the walls of our accelerator, and come back inside, with a perspective that may not be new, but that takes greater account of the forest as a whole.

and last but not least, we'll be raising our voices, with a view to helping the gas pedals present become (even) better, with people so talented we've had to reread their positive responses three times to convince ourselves they'll actually be with us. these eminences will be sharing their nuggets of knowledge in three discussions:

1. taking care of people
   how can we be catalysts for change to reverse the overwhelming data on contractors' mental health?
2. taking care of tech
   how can we support profitable startups that attract partners, conquer foreign markets and make the world a little better?
3. taking care of business (models)
   under what models and in what spaces do gas pedals operate, and how do they co-exist in their various forms?

(hopefully this last track will have put this excellent classic in your head, as the band's name was completely foreign to me until now).

just as there was a before and after acceleratorfest 2018, there will be a before and after acceleratorfest 2023.

- joyce mclean, manager - summit and community relations @ main