The Hard Part with Evan McCann

Adam McNamara from McNamara Family Investments

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Adam McNamara is the Founder and Angel Investor at his family office McNamara Family Investments.


Adam previously Co-Founded Select Start Studios (acquired by Shopify), was a VP Product at Shopify, Co-Founded Ramen Ventures and now is a Mentor through CDL.


Takeaways

  • Learnings from starting and winding down Ramen Ventures.
  • Why he continues to invest as an angel, focusing on deep tech and supporting founders who are passionate about solving hard problems.
  • Canada should focus on building world-class, high-impact companies rather than settling for base hits.
  • Investing in fundamental research and development is crucial to creating the building blocks for future technology companies.
  • Cities need to adapt to the knowledge economy and change electoral systems to better represent urban centers. Canadian startups should aim for global or North American opportunities rather than limiting themselves to the Canadian market.
  • Boldness and rational optimism are crucial for success.
  • The capital gains tax changes in Canada have negative implications for angel investment and venture capital.
  • VC preference stacking is detrimental to Canadian companies and should be addressed.
  • Nuclear energy and synthetic biology are spaces Adam is interested in.
  • Why you should be voting!


    • Chapters

    00:00 The Rise and Wind down of Ramen Ventures

    03:37 Investing in Deep Tech and Passionate Founders

    08:20 Building World-Class, High-Impact Companies

    14:03 The Importance of Fundamental Research and Development

    27:37 Changing Electoral Systems for Better Representation

    28:23 Expanding Horizons: The Need for Global Opportunities

    31:02 The Power of Boldness and Rational Optimism

    33:29 The Impact of Capital Gains Tax Changes

    39:02 Addressing the Issue of VC Preference Stacking

    44:15 Exciting Frontiers: Nuclear Energy and Synthetic Biology


    Keywords

    Ramen Ventures, angel investing, competition, valuations, predatory funding rounds, deep tech, high-impact companies, fundamental research and development, knowledge economy, electoral systems, Canadian startups, global opportunities, boldness, rational optimism, capital gains tax, angel investment, venture capital, VC preference stacking, nuclear energy, synthetic biology

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    The Hard Part with Evan McCannBy Evan McCann