Pender Ventures Inaugural Tech CEO Event
At our core, the team at Pender Ventures is driven by a passion for building impactful businesses and supporting leaders who take on this challenge. Our inaugural Tech CEO event brought together CEOs and key leaders from the Pender Technology Inflection Fund and the Pender Small Cap Opportunities Fund investee companies to build community and connection.
Building a strong and resilient business requires making time for important reflection – as is often said, taking time to work “on” the business and not just “in” the business. Taking a pause to evaluate your actions, purpose, and potential adjustments can set successful businesses apart from the rest. Our event provided an opportunity for attending leaders to gain valuable insights, including:
- Having a clear vision for your company’s future state allows you to map critical partnerships that can amplify your success. Doing this mapping exercise early enables you to cultivate relationships more organically and nurture them over time, ensuring a strong relationship is in place when a need arises.
- While building a strong company should always be the priority, it is equally important to have a well thought out exit strategy; one that complements your business strategy instead of guiding it. Having clarity on an exit strategy empowers your organization to be better prepared, being open to options and positions the company to quickly respond to changes and opportunities.
- When formulating company strategy, it is common for leaders to focus on two critical aspects: defining the company purpose and vision, and the key priorities for the upcoming year. However, to bridge these elements effectively it is crucial to establish clarity on your mid-term goal. This is where the concept of a 3HAG (a 3 year highly achievable goal) comes into play, connecting the long- and short-term objectives and creating a tangible target your team can rally around.
- Good businesses will attract investment even in tough markets. Given the current state of the market and the drop in multiples, it is even more important to focus on business fundamentals and unit economics.
We firmly believe that building a successful company is not a solo journey; it requires a strong and supportive community. And ultimately that’s what our event was designed to foster. Through our roundtable discussion CEO’s were able to connect, share experiences and insights and begin developing a supportive peer network.
Our closing session provided an opportunity for business leaders to engage directly with Pender Ventures’ supporters and investors, creating new connections and potential collaborations.
Having this first event under our belt we are inspired by the valuable feedback from our attendees and are already brainstorming enhancements for next year’s event. Finally, we have to express our gratitude to @Ivor Luk and the exceptional team at Deloitte. We are very grateful for your support and hospitality in providing an amazing space for this group to come together.
