Francois Lafortune is the Co-Founder and CEO of Diagram Ventures.
Francois is also a Managing Partner at Sagard and Chairman of the Board at Nesto.
Diagram is a venture launchpad building the next generation of global companies based in Canada. They develop and incubate our own ideas, and find exceptional entrepreneurs and technologists to build companies with us.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
2:00 The Genesis of Diagram: A Venture Studio's Origin
05:23 Navigating the Idea Flow: From Concept to Execution
09:49 Criteria for Success: Understanding the Venture Creation Funnel
13:54 Leveraging Competitive Advantage: The Diagram Ecosystem
16:36 Finding the Right Founders: The CEO Search Process
21:14 Funding Dynamics: Balancing Ownership and Attracting Investors
24:37 Team Structure: Blending Operators and Investors
27:18 Navigating the Entrepreneurial Landscape
28:51 Identifying Market Opportunities
31:05 Learning from Experience
36:51 Signals of Success
39:35 Emerging Trends Beyond AI
41:04 Balancing Ideas and Execution
44:15 Transitioning from Hands-On to Hands-Off
46:41 Coping with Challenges in Entrepreneurship
