The Globe and Mail

‘Talking photos’ tell success story

This week in Your Business, The Globe and Mail’s home for entrepreneurs, we will profile a few Canadians who are making their mark in Silicon Valley, and examine the infrastructure in place to support them.

Kamal Shah’s voice bubbles with excitement as he describes his business, Fotobabble, which allows users to record their own audio to narrate photos.

The 43-year-old native of Guelph, Ont., and University of Toronto mechanical engineering graduate, has secured financial support for Fotobabble, which is now in use by big media companies such as NBC, and has being touted by Wired magazine and the Los Angeles Times. After building out the concept for most of 2010, including development of apps for use with iPads and smart phones, Mr. Shah says 2011 is “shaping up to be a very good year.”

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Canadian lured by Silicon Valley’s ‘risk mentality’

Yen Lee doesn’t dread winter. As an ex-pat in Silicon Valley, he revels in the fact he can cycle to work every morning and wear shorts year-round.

But the temperate weather isn’t the only advantage to living and working in the world’s tech capital.

Mr. Lee says Silicon Valley’s risk-tolerant culture, its access to smart capital and a diverse talent pool have helped him grow his Internet startup, Uptake Networks Inc., into the one of the largest independent travel aggregators in just three short years.

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Canada can’t compete with tech hub

Montreal-born and raised Patrick C. Lee is a partner at Pinnacle Ventures, a private venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, Calif. After completing his undergrad degree at Queens University in Kingston, Mr. Lee attended Harvard Business School for his MBA and then moved to Silicon Valley after brief stints in New York and London with Merrill Lynch.

It was 1995 – the year Yahoo was born and Microsoft released Windows 95 – and the tech boom was on. Before Pinnacle was founded in 2002, Mr. Lee started and oversaw the software practice for JPMorgan Partners. He has invested in numerous early stage technology companies, including Above All Software, Tidal Software and PentaSafe

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