Posts filed under 'Behind-the-scenes'
Greening a startup
by Magda Rocki
The key to going greener is of course thinking greener. In light of Earth Hour’s recent occurence and Canada’s celebration of Earth Day happening in a few weeks, we have been paying closer attention than usual to our office’s green practices.
Although we still have a way to go, here are some of the green basics we have appropriated within the Bolidea office:
With 42% of household garbage recyclable¹, we encourage materials to be reprocessed:
- Electronics and office supplies are reclaimed: while we all declare a profound love for tech gadgets and electronics, team members usually bring in their old cell phones and other outdated electronic devices to be dropped off at a local eco-centre, along with our office’s used ink cartridges.
- Recycling receptacles throughout the office: if it falls under the city’s recycling norms, in the blue basket it goes. The Ville de Montreal recycling dutifully picks it up weekly.
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3 comments April 7, 2009
Conducting your startup’s offsite: tips for success
by Magda Rocki
Last week’s post dealt with pre-planning the basic elements that assure your startup’s offsite is successful: who should be there? Talking about what, when, and why? This week’s focus is on executing the planning and ensuring everything runs smoothly the day of the offsite and onwards.
STEP TWO- Day of the offsite: Executing the planning and guiding your team towards resolution
Ask your team to turn off their cellphones: no distractions allowed! It can even be a good idea to disconnect the internet access during topic sessions, so that participants remain focused on the task at hand. The goal is after all to have everyone participate.
Remind the participants of the agenda items and add missing items ( if needed): to decrease the incidents of tangents and off-topic discussions, make sure to stick to the proposed agenda items. Think of the agenda items as promises you don’t wish to break.
Add comment March 25, 2009
Planning your startup’s offsite? Tips on making it successful.
by Magda Rocki
A startup’ s offsite is a very helpful means to getting the team focused on defining a strategy, roadmapping, planning a product launch or creating a revolutionary way of doing things. Far from the daily distractions of the office (lengthy meetings, stressful deadlines, glaring computer screens), the offsite environment is also a great formula for open conversations about subject items you don’t have time to broach in your regular schedule.
Done well, an offsite not only puts your startup’s great minds together to address a business issue but it also builds better teams that work more effectively together and get more things done. However, an offsite planned poorly will be viewed as a waste of time and be dubbed as a dismal failure.
How can you ensure your startup’s offsite is successful at building teams and getting things done at the same time?
The key: advance preparation. Consider following this efficient 3-step planning sequence. Step one outlined below with step two and three explained in a subsequent post.
1 comment March 18, 2009
Our Offices
by Magali Janvier
Our first offices
Our first offices were located in the Old Port, a historical and pleasant Montreal neighborhood, exceedingly lively and happening in the summer, while more tranquil in the winter time. Not only was the neighborhood lovely, our office space felt really cozy and was fun to work in. The work spaces were divided in little rooms each of them with their different feel: the well organized marketing/design room, the paper and poster plastered Biz Dev spot and the coders’ area, likely dark and always overflowing with blue “bawls” bottles. Not only did all the staff love the office space, people arriving at the offices never missed a chance to compliment on how great it felt. There was a fireplace, big wooden ceiling structure beams and comfortable couches surrounding a long coffee table. That’s where we always sat at lunch time, eating our homemade or McDonald lunches – the McDonald’s was right around the corner – talking about the next release but more often about the latest party. Indeed the place was perfect for parties, the famous fireplace was always topped with multiple bottles of booze – too often left over booze such as absinthe – but renewed with the drinkable kind before any plan of festivity. Writing this brings back good memories. Overall it was great, but as everything, there were some downsides.
1 comment December 10, 2008
The Team Behind Bolidea
by Magda Rocki
The mastermind behind our enterprise, Martin-Luc Archambault (pic: bottom left), concocts and engineers seamless business strategies that cause our mouths to fall open – more often than not – during meetings. Having sharpened his visionary approaches on more than a few online businesses, he enthusiastically seeks and shapes everything into fast: turnovers, entrepreneurs, executions, and automobiles. Open and receptive to all things entrepreneurial, he is one of the investors behind Montreal Start Up and is always excited to brainstorm and talk about business with anyone. He attributes his farsighted intelligence to daily nibbles of dark chocolate. continue reading…
Add comment December 8, 2008
