Show notes
Today, we’re revisiting an episode with the unbreakable John Ruffolo, recorded during the pandemic last year. Since then, John has suffered a cycling accident, made an incredible recovery, and launched a $500M growth stage equity fund, Maverix PE. For Canada Day, we’re chatting with this maverick about nurturing the next generation of tech and VC entrepreneurs.About JohnJohn Ruffolo is Founder & former CEO of OMERS Ventures and Co-Founder & Vice Chair of the Council of Canadian Innovators. He started the Ontario Municipal Workers Pension Funds Venture arm in 2011, and has been instrumental in helping develop some of Canada’s biggest tech companies. John’s portfolio includes companies such as Hootsuite, Hopper, PasswordBox (which sold to Intel), Shopify (which IPOd 2015), Wave (which sold to H&R Block) and countless others.In this episode we discuss:02:00 Private market valuations prior to the onset of the COVID-19 crisis09:26 How growth investors are pricing investments given the flux in public markets15:51 Building stronger and deeper relationships without being able to visit CEOs18:57 Adding value as a late-stage investor24:08 How to raise capital as a seed/ Series A founder27:45 John’s view on the Canadian tech landscape36:16 Weak points in the tech ecosystem and recommendations for founders45:04 Where emerging managers should focus their attention in a new landscapeFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com
