December 20, 2007
Looking beyond a Flat World: Peter Evans Joins TiE and Canadian Venture Capital Association Delegation to Delhi and Bangalore India

At the invitation of the TIE association (the Indus Entrepreneurs) and the Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA), Peter Evans represented the MaRS Venture Group as part of a Canadian delegation to India. “For anyone immersed in the IT industry, the story of India’s ascent as a technology superpower has been well publicized. Like millions of others, I had read Thomas Friedman’s “The World is Flat” and I have an appreciation for the clichés we in North America apply to developing markets. But beyond all these snapshots, there is much more that needs to be looked at — beyond the brand association that many of us have formed about India being a country for low cost supply of IT/outsourced services and manufactured goods,” says Peter Evans, Advisor to the MaRS Venture Group.”

While we all know the world is flattening in terms of connectivity, making it easier for new clusters of talent to come together and connect into the global economy, there are some misconceptions about India. Both in terms of its current capabilities and its ability to shift from process innovation to more fundamental technology and commercial product development, the latter which will be driven as much by a rapidly changing domestic economy that for the past 15 years has averaged 18% growth. Even as the Rupee has appreciated, domestic growth driven by gains in consumer spending power has helped offset these impacts. Enough about the macro view: India is big. We know this. But what are some of the other facets we should look at in assessing India’s emergence as the economy to watch over the next few decades? And what are the implications and opportunities for us here in Canada? Read Peter’s observations on the MaRS blog


September 20, 2007
Riverdale Congratulates Truition as 34th Fastest Company on the 2007 Deloitte & Touche Fast50 Index

Truition Inc., the leading On Demand eCommerce Platform provider for retailers and brand manufacturers, has been named to the prestigious 2007 Deloitte Technology Fast 50, a ranking of the 50 fastest-growing technology companies in Canada. Truition was recognized in part, by achieving an impressive 5 year revenue growth rate of 565%. Over the past five years, Truition has evolved into a global leader in the field of eCommerce Platform technology, with more than 125 customers in eight countries. Headquartered in Toronto, the company has offices in Boston, London UK and Jena, Germany. “We are very pleased to be recognized by the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 program,” said Bill Wignall, Chief Executive Officer of Truition. “This type of recognition is a testament to Truition's ability to leverage our unique On Demand technology and strategic market knowledge into a global leadership position in the rapidly evolving eCommerce market. We look forward to continued success, both in North America and internationally.”

Read the release here.

September 20, 2007
Riverdale Congratulates BTI Photonics as 3rd Fastest Company on the 2007 Deloitte & Touche Fast50 Index

BTI Systems, a global supplier of Agile Optical Edge microWDM networking solutions for the delivery of gigabit services, today announced that it has been named the third fastest-growing company in Canada in the 2007 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 – a ranking of the 50 fastest-growing technology companies in Canada, based on the percentage of revenue growth over five years. This is BTI’s second consecutive year to be included. “It is an honour for BTI to be recognized among such innovative companies and to have increased our ranking to the third position,” said Lance Laking, President and CEO, BTI Systems. “We remain focused on our core competency of providing Agile Optical Edge networking solutions that allow our customers to meet the demands of delivering high-bandwidth applications such as IPTV and mobile Internet.”

Read the article here.

September 11, 2007
Robert Carter Joins 7000 Salesforce.com Gurus at DreamForce Global Conference in San Francisco

Riverdale Co-Founder Rob Carter joined over 7,000 attendees, at this year’s Annual Salesforce event. Dreamforce ‘07 was the largest conference ever, packed with breakthrough announcements, visionary keynotes, and best practices galore. During the opening keynote, CEO Marc Benioff announced Force.com, the world’s first platform as a service, and unveiled Visualforce, a revolutionary new way to create any user interface for Salesforce and Force.com applications. Hundreds of new Winter ’08 features for sales, marketing, customer service, and partners were also revealed, along with the all-new products Salesforce Content and Salesforce Ideas.

Read the article at Yahoo Business here.

September 8, 2007
Riverdale Launches Revised “Blue Ocean Strategy” Workshop: New Product Designed to Address Key Process Issues in Developing Innovative New Products and Markets

In response to increasing market demand for strategic planning services, Riverdale Partners has expanded its strategic planning practice. As part of this effort, a new “Blue Ocean Strategy” workshop has been developed for clients to offer this groundbreaking system that is designed to creatively identify and unlock new opportunities in highly competitive markets.

Using “Value Innovation” strategy models the Riverdale team has worked with clients in a range of industries including telecommunications, consumer packaged goods and software, working with clients such as Telus, Backerhaus Veit, and Lillydale Foods. These highly interactive workshops are based on a highly creative, interactive process that engages participants and creatively drives new ways of thinking about markets, customers and competitors. “We constructively show you how to evaluate your current market positioning and strategies to reframe your product offering using the Blue Ocean concepts. Blue Ocean Strategy offers the potential to unleash breakthrough gains far beyond organic growth.” says Lee Garrison, head of Riverdale’s Product Management Practice.

Today it’s all about delivering a compelling and sustainable value proposition for customers. Yet when companies try to drive beyond incremental growth, many find it difficult to see beyond old patterns of thinking, comfortable business models or incremental product/service improvements and fail to re-define how the game is played. Our workshops are designed to provide a quick start program that gets companies asking the right questions about how to fundamentally change the competitive game.” Our custom workshops on Blue Ocean Strategy help clients map a creative, visual exploration of new market territories against current industry realities and “what if” statements. Riverdale’s strategic planning practice consultants facilitate this exploration in a series of workshop modules that provide a detailed understanding of the core Blue Ocean Strategy process. Participants develop a more detailed understanding of the methodology through a series of short lectures, case references from the BOS book, application exercises and real-life examples that bring the concepts to life in a workshop format.

June 15, 2007
Peter Evans Addresses Overlap 2007 Conference on Innovation

What do you get when you bring together renowned academics, design/usability gurus and captains of industry? Something quite wonderful actually. It’s called “The Overlap,” – an exclusive invitation-only conference nestled on the shores of beautiful Lake Couchiching. By design, this collective of very smart, socially aware people has generated an energy that far exceeds the sum of its parts. In fact, you could argue that this organization is fast becoming a movement, bringing people together from fields as diverse as finance, product design, business strategy, customer research, innovation, general management and marketing. So what exactly do these people talk about when they get together? The stated goals of this movement are to creatively bring together bright minds and explore areas of innovation such as:

• How to better use design to accelerate the creation of breakthrough ideas


• Helping organizations think more creatively, and to develop an innovation

methodology that moves away from just pure instinct

• Helping businesses manage innovation through new product development processes


• Helping companies understand how to establish deeper connections with customers to stimulate innovation


• Providing insights into great commercial design that solves business problems

What organizers Michael Anton Dalla and Robin Uchida have created is what they describe as an experience that is multidisciplinary, collaborative, pragmatic and ultimately human. In fact, Overlap is an “unconference”, running counter to the standard “talking head” formula used by most industry conferences. A video of Peter Evans’ presentation on the MaRS Convergence Innovation Model and other presentations from speakers including strategy guru Michael Raynor, Roger Martin (Dean of the Rotman Business School), Dave Gray (Founder of the visual thinking agency Xplane) and Alex Manu (Founder of the Beal Institute) are available at the official conference site at www.theoverlap.org

If you didn’t get to Overlap 2007 (or even if you did) check out some of the presentations on the site. And if you have an interest in how innovation is evolving, be sure to join in the virtual discussions at overlap07.ning.com and overlap.ning.com.

May 4, 2007
Riverdale Hits the Ground with DoubleClick at AdTech San Francisco: A look at the Business End of Web 2.0

Anyone who’s been to AdTech San Francisco can attest to the crazy high school science fair-like atmosphere on the exhibitor floor as hundreds of online companies vie for attention from clients, media and investors. Close to 9,000 people were registered, coming in from all over the globe, making it one of the most important shows on the interactive circuit. What’s the hottest thing this year? It’s advertising exchanges. Next to the obvious buzz around the burgeoning market of social networking sites the concept of bringing web publishers and advertising buyers closer together is the big focus this year. This is the year of the “ad exchange”” an online site where publishers, agencies, ad networks and advertisers can participate in an auction-based market and bid for ad space.

DoubleClick (a Riverdale client) announced its Advertising Exchange product at AdTech, touting it as a mix of eBay and Sabre (the airline reservations system used by travel agents). This service lets advertisers see what competitors bid for particular ads, in the same way that eBay shows visitors past bids. And it ensures publishers sell their ad spots at the highest possible price, the way that airlines try to do with their seats. It’s evident that this exchange is a major coup for DoubleClick as it prepares to link its huge installed base of large publishers and buyers together.

The potential growth of exchanges was certainly a factor in the recent move by Google to acquire DoubleClick for $3.1 Billion. This, by the way, sets a new high for Google’s M&A team. Another ad auction marketplace, Right Media, was bought by Yahoo for $680 million earlier this week. A major driving force behind all this activity goes beyond the inefficiency of the current market setup and the lack of transparency that ad networks have created. Think about the opportunities that now abound for advertisers to more efficiently tap into non-premium ad inventory –- much of it created through an ever-expanding long-tail world of social media sites.

September 26, 2006
Product Management Expert Lee Garrison Joins Riverdale Partners: Now Set to Lead Growing Product Management Practice

Riverdale Partners expands its capabilities in market-driven product management with the addition of international marketing executive Lee Garrison. Trained and certified in the industry-leading product management methodology from Pragmatic Marketing®, Lee brings extensive experience taking numerous successful products from concept to market success. “Developing a market-driven product management practice at Riverdale Partners is a terrific opportunity to make a difference”, states Garrison. “Through the integration of strategic business planning, market-driven product strategy and sales systems, we’re connecting clients directly with their essential income drivers – and making sure they get the right tools to succeed”. To read more about Lee’s background, click here.

Aug. 11, 2006
Evans Joins Industry Panel at Rotman Business Plan Competition: Venture Capital and Technology Experts Speak to Teams at University of Toronto

Peter Evans of Riverdale Partners joined an expert panel comprised of Venture Capital and Technology experts as part of this year’s Executive MBA Program Business Plan Event at the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto. Representing the MaRS Venture Group (a Riverdale client), Evans was joined by Dr. Tony Redpath of the MaRS Venture Group. Other participants included Ron Dizy of Celtic House, Steven Bloom of Brightspark Ventures, Les Lyall of Growthworks and Victor Scutaru of BDC Capital.

July 18, 2006
Globe & Mail “Wise Words” Column features Riverdale Partners Peter Evans:
Shares Insights on How to Harness the “Power of the Pictogram”

Sean Wise, venture capital savant and celebrity host of the Wise Words Column in the Globe & Mail online site featured the work of Dave Gray and his gang of visualizers at the the XPLANE agency in St. Louis. In the article, Wise featured Riverdale Partners, Peter Evans who has done a fair bit of work with XPLANE over the years. "Technology at the feature level just doesn't sell," says Evans. That's why visualizations are so important. They can immediately help you connect with non-technical decision-makers — these are often the people who are major influencers in the purchase decision." In the article, Evans shared some of what he believes are the secrets to developing coherent visualizations. These include: 1. Show the Ecosystem: How does your solution fit together with other technologies and partners across the market landscape from an "interoperability" perspective? Can you draw all these relationships out to show how they work together to provide a seamless solution?; 2. Functions and Benefits: Show how your solution works in a detailed way. But do not just focus on function. Take the opportunity to richly describe the benefits that you generate along the way for your end users and customers. Do not forget to show who is paying whom; 3. Before and After: Paint a vivid picture of the points of pain (the business' problems) that your customers experience today. In a separate diagram, consider showing how your solution resolves these issues. Click here to view the full article at the Globe & Mail.

May 15, 2006
The Victor Awards Recognizing Entrepreneurial Excellence Debuts with great success at Canadian Venture Forum

A new awards program, called the VICTOR Awards, was launched last week at the Canadian Venture Forum (CVF), a two-day event in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a host of potential investors. Co-hosted by the Toronto Venture Group and Thomson Financial, the event has helped high growth companies secure over 1 billion dollars in capital since 2000.

The VICTORS brand, developed by Peter Evans of Riverdale Partners (in his role as Marketing Chair of the Toronto Venture Group) were given to companies in each of the three investment streams represented at the event: They recognize winners who have the highest probability of future success as chosen by members of the Canadian investment community. During the two-day event, a group of over 150 investors reviewed more than 70 companies selected by a blue-ribbon nomination committee made up of 30 of leading minds in venture capital and angel investing, as well as a number of Tier-1 public venture capital experts.

“What makes the VICTOR Awards unique is they represent excellence in entrepreneurship as judged by qualified investors,” said Peter Evans, Marketing Chair of the Toronto Venture Group. “Through these awards we are showcasing and celebrating the people who are working hard to build the next generation of great technology companies in Canada.”

For the full release on the VICTOR Awards, click here.
For more information on the Toronto Venture Group click here.

Feb. 6, 2006
McLuhan International Festival of the Future Launches First Annual “VORTEX” Competition: Peter Evans to Sit on Investment Presentation Panel

Peter Evans, has been invited to attend the McLuhan International Festival of the Future
as a panelist at the first ever VORTEX Competition . The purpose of the competition is to provide a venue for new media creators to find avenues for commercial development of their ideas. Sponsored by Telefilm Canada, the Canada New Media Fund and Toronto’s Drake Hotel, VORTEX will showcase and evaluate new videogame prototypes, cell phone content, innovative Internet applications and new film and television projects. The Vortex’s goal is to provide a unique environment wherein cultural, media and business stakeholders are brought together to jointly explore original and exciting media concepts in the fields of publishing, video games, music, film and TV, education, science and other new-media environments. Evans will attend representing the MaRS Discovery District’s Venture Group. Other panelists expected to join at this event will include representatives of the local Venture Capital industry, media representatives and academic researchers.


Jan. 10, 2006
"From Biotech. to Baby Buggies: How Principles of Market Assessment Prevail” MaRS Entrepreneurship 101 Lecture: A Follow on Lecture on Fundamentals of Market Research

Peter Evans, returned to the stage at the MaRS Discovery District to deliver a follow on lecture to the MaRS Entrepreneurship 101 program on the Importance of research in the early stages of product development. In this session Evans outlined the “seven deadly sins” of market failures. Using two examples of successful products in the biotech and consumer products markets - (ColdF/X) a popular nutraceutical product) and the Bugaboo Frog (a highly successful baby stroller) – Evans provided a case analysis on how these two products are winning in very different markets. These case studies focused on the importance of evaluating product development and market launch options related to key areas such as customers, market, competition and partnerships. An outline of various market research methods and segmentation models were also included in this session.

Nov. 30, 2005
“Connecting Innovation to Income: Market Testing your BIG Idea” MaRS Entrepreneurship 101 Lecture: Speaking on the Essentials of Customer Value Design and Business Model Development

Peter Evans will present the first of two lectures at the MaRS Entrepreneurship 101 program on the some of the fundamental elements of a winning marketing plan. A great deal of focus for this lecture will be on the development of the “business model” – a common framework for understanding key area of the business that affect success. Four key components of business model construction will be discussed: 1) Market Opportunity; 2) Value Proposition; 3) Distribution Strategy and Financial Engine. Also discussed were methods that organizations can use to “re-draw their value curve” by identifying key factors that correlate with value in target market segments. These value-based management concepts have recently been popularized by the book “Blue Ocean Strategy” (Kim & Maubourge).

Oct. 6, 2005
Riverdale to Present Session at Communitech “Chapter 3” Entrepreneur Event in Waterloo

As part of it’s annual Entrepreneur Week series, Communitech once again invited experts from the technology community to speak to key topics of interest to entrepreneurs in the industry. Peter Evans of Riverdale Partners led a session titled “Selecting a Market for your Product or Service: How do you Choose?” The series of rapid fire roundtable sessions are designed to maximize both key learning and networking among participants. Other speakers who have agreed to participate in this event include: Andrew Abouchar (Partner, Tech Capital Partners Inc.); Keith Ainsworth (former President & CEO, COM DEV International); Dave Caputo (President, CEO and Co-founder, Sandvine Incorporated); Jim Estill (CEO, SYNNEX Canada Limited (formerly EMJ); Tim Jackson (Partner, Tech Capital Partners Inc.); Bryan Kerdman (Partner, EdgeStone Capital Partners); David Strucke (President & CEO, Navtech, Inc.); Chris Wormald (Senior manager, Strategic Alliances, Research in Motion)

July 14, 2005
Facing Off with 297 Business Students: Riverdale Client Selected for Review at Wilfred Laurier University Annual Integrated Business Case Competition

Wilfrid Laurier University Business students got to tackle a real-world business challenge as part their annual integrated case exercise (ICE) competition which featured Handshake VR, an emerging Waterloo technology company that simulates the sense of touch in human-computer interactions. The company, named a “Top 25 Up & Comer Technology Company” by the Branham Group, introduced its first product, the Handshake proSENSE™ Virtual Touch Toolbox, in March 2005. The proSENSE Toolbox offers both expert and novice users a wide range of tools to develop sense-of-touch applications, including the proprietary time delay compensation technology (TiDeC™), recognized by industry as the only commercially available technology that addresses fatal network latency.

The management team of Handshake VR (a Riverdale Partners client) reviewed presentations from 297 business students at Wilfrid Laurier who outlined strategies for the company. Peter Evans, of Riverdale Partners was also asked to join on the panel of company executives to judge the various entries and address students at the end of the session.

Structured as a business case, the exercise challenged students to apply everything they have learned to a growing, dynamic and fluid industry – the high-tech sector. The case asked students to recommend which market segments Handshake should pursue from among a broad spectrum of new telehaptic applications in areas that include robotics, telesurgery, teletraining, telediagnosis, telerehabilitation and edutainment. The students’ proposals must clearly and concisely outline the specific market applications that will be developed, the model for how these applications would be commercialized, the specific uses of raised capital, the profits and other returns that would be expected, along with the associated timelines. For more information visit http://cubic.wlu.ca/news_detail.php?grp_id=31&nws_id=740&filter_type=release


July 12, 2005     
Riverdale Signs Agreement with MaRS Discovery District To Provide Marketing, Program Development and Entrepreneurial Mentorship/Venture Advisory Services

As part of its continued expansion as a convergence innovation centre, MaRS Discovery District signed an agreement with Riverdale Partners to provide a range of advisory services including research, strategic planning, program design/ implementation and brand management. Riverdale Partners will also assist MaRS in delivering advisory services to early stage, high growth companies who are enrolled in the MaRS Venture Group program.


May 16, 2005
Jeff Hemming Joins Riverdale Partners: CRM Expert to Head Expansion of Firm’s CRM & Salesforce Automation Practice

Jeff Hemming has now assumed the role of Riverdale Partners CRM Practice Director as the firm moves to expand its CRM and Salesforce Automation platforms. “We are delighted to have Jeff as part of our team, said Peter Evans, Managing Partner. “Jeff is very experienced in implementing complete CRM solutions (including needs analysis, information architecture, platform selection, systems development and user training) across a range of platforms which include SalesForce.com™, SalesLogix™, GoldMine™, InterAction™ and Pivotal™. Beyond his technical expertise Jeff has a strong grasp of how to work effectively with the most advanced senior management, sales, marketing and customer service teams,” said Evans.

Jeff Hemming has spent the past eight years implementing customer information solutions for organizations such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, New Brunswick Telephone, FloNetwork, DoubleClick, and McCarthy Tétrault LLP. To read more about Jeff’s background, click here.

Feb. 23, 2005     
Riverdale to Speak at CVCA Marketing Event: “Strategic Marketing for Technology Companies – Keys to Breaking into the Market and Building Value”To Moderate Panel with Representatives from Cognos & Research & Motion

Peter Evans will be a featured speaker at this professional development event hosted by the CVCA (www.cvca.ca) is Canada's Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. Sessions will focus on the unique marketing challenges faced by venture backed technology companies. Speakers will discuss practical tips that will lead to more effective marketing strategies, plans and tactics. Evans will also chair a panel featuring: Patrick O’Leary, VP Strategic Alliances, Cognos; David Wilmering, Director Product Marketing, Research in Motion; Martin Hofmann, VP, High Road Communications; Bev W. Tudhope, Chief Executive, Interbrand Canada Inc.For more information visit: www.cvca.ca

Nov. 23, 2004
Peter Evans to Chair Toronto Venture Group Sales & Marketing Conference: Keynote Speakers Include Executives from Google and Salesforce.com

Peter Evans will chair an upcoming conference hosted by the Toronto Venture Group on Nov. 23, 2004. The conference theme, “Sales and Marketing for CEO’s: Winning Strategies for High Growth Businesses,” will feature a range of notable speakers who are active in the high tech marketing and sales arena. Speakers for this event include: Wendy Muller – Google Canada, Tom Marras – Salesforce.com, Bruce Powell – IQ Partners, Prof. Alexandra Campbell – Schulich School of Business, Bill Sweetman – Kalixo, Axle Davids – Axle Branding, Lynda Barreca – Consillium Group

Aug. 29, 2004
Riverdale Earns Salesforce.com Partner Status: Becomes first Firm in Ontario to Earn Certified Implementation Partner Level

As part of Riverdale's expanding CRM practice we have recently received certification with the Salesforce.com platform. Our certified consultants have completed a rigourous week of onsite training at the corporate head office in San Francisco and passed a stringent certification process which included exceeding the mandatory passing grade of 85%.

May 18, 2004
“Connecting Vision to Reality 2004” Riverdale Partners to Speak at PriceWaterhouseCoopers Technology CEO Conference

Peter Evans of Riverdale Partners has been invited to speak at this year’s “Connecting Vision to Reality” Conference produced by PriceWaterhouseCoopers. This conference is by invitation only to select CEO’s of leading Canadian technology companies. Evans has been chosen to lead an expert panel on a topic titled “Small in Size, Big in Ambition.” This session will speak to some of the key findings uncovered in the PWC 2004 Technology CEO Survey and will address some of the best principles early-stage technology startups can employ to position themselves for high growth. Following the panel, Tom Jenkins, CEO of OpenText Corporation will address the conference.

Mar. 17, 2004
Guest Lecture: Queens MBA for Science & Technology: Peter Evans Speaks to Importance of Integration between Marketing and Sales

Peter Evans returned to his alma mater, Queen’s School of Business to guest lecture as part of marketing guru Professor Ken Wong’s “Advanced Marketing Topics” section of the MBA for Science & Technology. In his 3rd year addressing the MBA class, Evans spoke to the importance of viewing marketing and sales as a highly integrated set of functions within a company – especially in B2B markets. “Many business school programs are not covering the importance of concepts such as “complex sales processes” in the curriculum today, “said Evans. “I’m excited to see that Ken Wong through this series is focused on ensuring Queen’s students get this real-world perspective that compliments the academic program,” said Evans. In his session, Evans focused on what he termed “the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Marketers.” The first of these habits he terms “Anchoring the Value Proposition” whereby organizations ensure that primary and secondary research drives reconfiguration of the customer “value curve” to deliver unexpected value. He also detailed how value models can be more easily communicated to drive home the value proposition of a company’s products and services.