255. Launching Canada's #1 Local Classifieds Site, Kijiji, The Flourishing Canadian Tech Ecosystem, and What to Look for in Early-stage Marketplace Startups (Janet Bannister)

Janet Bannister of Real Ventures joins Nick to discuss Launching Canada's #1 Local Classifieds Site, Kijiji, The Flourishing Canadian Tech Ecosystem, and What to Look for in Early-stage Marketplace Startups. In this episode, we cover: Walk us through your background and path to VC What's the thesis at Real Ventures? Tell us about your time at Kijiji You became the Managing Partner at Real Ventures  a few months before the pandemic.  What timing to take on the MP role! You've talked about how it's just as important to focus on founder development as it is to focus on business strategy and growth... in what areas do you find that founders need the most development help? Largely speaking, what stats or trends across Canada lead you to believe that it will have a booming tech economy over the next decade? What city gets most of your attention and what city/region is under-the-radar but shouldn't be? What are the top 3 things you're looking for in a marketplace startup? come for tool stay for marketplace... vice-versa? Balanced scorecard Let's say you are approached to invest in a Consumer Marketplace company with $5M in GMV, a 30% take rate, and 20% MoM growth for the last 6 months. Catch is you can only ask for 3 data points to make your decision. What 3 questions do you ask for?