Founder Poker Toronto
Made free by Fasken, Boast AI, and Dentacloud
+ A NEW EVENT SERIESFounder ___________ Torontoa new series of fun events run by founders, for founders.
__________ is whatever you want it to be - read more below!
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A COMMUNITY // NOT A CASINO
Thanks to Fasken, Boast AI, and Dentacloud, Founder Poker includes a sick venue, woodfire pizza, and drinks at no cost.
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IYKYKApply To Join Below
Founder Poker is for Members Only. If you're a member & you don't see emails from us, check your email, or contact Derek.If you want to join our community, read the wall of text & fill out the form.
Contact Us
Apply To Join The Club
Establishing Culture - A Letter From Derek, the creator of Founder Poker Toronto.The goal of FPT (Founder Poker Toronto) is that this community becomes an always-available in-person group of friends for any founder in Toronto. We play poker but, let's be honest, it's not a very serious poker night. Poker's just way more fun than doing yet another "cocktail hour".We're an inclusive group that treats each other like friends, not business prospects. FPT is a haven to unwind and experience the people behind the companies. FPT is reliable; we'll always be here on the 2nd Tuesday of the month. If you're a part of FPT, you're also reliable, and won't no-show if you say you're coming.Our attendance is actually pretty killer for a 'networking event', often in the 90%+ range. Especially amongst members who have been to at least 1 event, where there have really only been a handful of no-shows since we started. FPT however, is not a just some 'networking event'. We're a friend group, so I'll continue to push that 100% of you are accounted for every month. You don't ghost your friends; and I expect you wont ghost us.Why do I do this? Simply because I care about accountability. I feel bad turning away the waitlist when no-shows occupy spots they could have showed up with.FPT is not for profit, and it's not even a not-for-profit. It's a friend group. So, if you contextualize the decisions that FPT makes, a lot of things will make more sense.There's no fee to come (i.e. would you pay a door ticket to see your friends?)There's no Slack group (we're only meant to exist for 1 day each month; the expectation is that for founders on the other days, you're building).There's no official social media (the only way to experience FPT is to actually show up).There's no 'name-tags' (single events in time have name badges; FPT exists each month, and it won't take long before you know your new friends by name).That if you don't show up, expect I'll be in touch to let you know that your no-show made me sad (because I care about my friends, and you wouldn't ghost your friends).Fill out the below to apply to join Founder Poker Toronto. If you're a founder/VC... welcome to the club.
Min 5+ words in the long answer text box or it'll be filtered by the spam check!
What is a Founder? Who is this for?
We are an exclusive hangout for founders in Toronto to share resources, make friends, and to figure out how to best support each other. We also allow select VC/Angel investors to join our club, as they play an integral part in the tech-ecosystem.So, what is a Founder? Or at least, how do we define it?We define a Founder as: You are the person who created a tech or tech-related company, and you pursue this company as your sole full time focus....okay, what's a tech or tech-related company?It all comes down to how a venture scales. Tech companies (vs. a 'normal business') can create scale by producing more technology; instead of say, hiring humans to do serve the core function of the business. This technology is typically unique and defensible; generating IP, etc.Because of the nature of how tech companies scale, they can achieve billion dollar status in 5 years or less; whereas more traditional businesses can take multiple decades to do the same. This means that tech-companies have vastly different problems, desires, and need a different set of resources to win. These are the people we're trying to support.A 'normal business' is like a cafe, a construction company, a real estate firm; all of these can only achieve scale by hiring more people. These people provide a service, and the service is dependent on how the people are trained. If you change out all the staff in a 'normal business', you likely have a completely different business. If you change out all of the people in a tech-company, the product remains the same. Normal businesses are awesome ventures to build, and are way more likely to actually be profitable/successful. But the needs are different; we're trying to cater to Toronto's tech ecosystem.So, who's allowed in?-Startup Founders of Tech Companies who are building full time.
-VCs and Angels who invest in such Tech Companies (subject to approval by FPT).
-Founders of agencies that support the Toronto Tech ecosystem (subject to approval by FPT, and requiring a referral from an active founder who's already in the community)Approval is a privelege, not a right: We review everyone who applies to join and if we sense something is off, we won't let you in. If we sense that you're just joining to try and sell something, we're going to say no. We may ask for referrals / references from founders who are in the community if we don't know you.If you don't see yourself in those categories above, but you feel you should be allowed in anyways? Well, apply below to join! We'll consider you and respond 100% of the time to all inquiries.
The Poker
OUR COMMUNITYFounder Poker Toronto is a monthly no-stakes poker tournament for 64 founders & aspiring founders here in Toronto. The goal of this community is to make friends, share resources, and network with other active (or aspiring) startup founders in Toronto, all whilst playing cards.It's a community; not a casino.Founder Poker Toronto is networking, friendship building, and company building, accompanied by cards. When you join our community, you can expect a few non-competitive poker rounds over dinner & drinks which culminate in some sponsored prizes.IT'S FREE, AND YOU GET...-Woodfire Pizza from SlowSouth Pizza (veg, vegan, meat options)
-1 Drink Ticket - Valid for any beer, bar rail, or non alcoholic beverage
-Toronto's most exclusive hat... but only if you winSCHEDULE:6:00PM - 6:45PM: Poker 101 for First Time Poker Players
6:45PM - 7:00PM: Arrival time if you know how to play Poker
7:00PM - 7:30PM: Dinner / Networking
7:45PM - 9:00PM: Round 1 of Poker, 15 min break
9:15PM - 10:00PM: Round 2 of Poker & Winners AnnouncedTHE POKER-We teach Poker 101 before every meetup from 6pm to 645pm
-Texas Hold'em Style (~7 players/table) + 1 dealer.
-We play 2x ~45min-1hour rounds each meetup.
-The winner of each table will go to the Winner's Table for Round 2.
-Chips reset between rounds, so if you bust out, nbd. You're back in!
-If you win your table, make it to the winners table, or place top 3, we'll track your points for the season.There is an end of year poker event exclusively for the winners, so if you are one of the top-24 placing folks from Jan-Nov, you'll qualify for that!
_________
We also do __________, not just poker.It's whatever we feel like. It just has to be fun.Usually happening sometime in the last week of the month.If you want to host a ____________ event with Founder Poker, let us know!
Upcoming Dates
We (usually) play on the 2nd Tuesday of every month
Date | Doing | Location |
---|---|---|
October 22nd | Womxn's Poker | IYKYK |
Nov 5th | Drag Bingo | Amore Restobar |
Nov 16th | Secret Finale | IKYKYK |
Dec 12th | Year End Party | TBD |
2nd Tuesday of Each Month | Poker | IYKYK |
Some other day Each Month | _______ | Wherever it happens |
Title Sponsors
Fasken truly knows how to assist founders with the legal hurdles and challenges that they face in the earliest days up to having the depth of talent to assist you when you grow. If you're looking to talk to lawyers that understand what it's like to found in Toronto? Talk to Kate Grant, she'll set you up with the right folks.Learn more at fasken.com
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2024 'Glory' Leaderboard
We play for glory, not for money. These points earn you a right to play for the big prize at the Big December Finale. Tiebreaks will be decided by how many events you came to, and then further tiebreaks will be given in favour of our dealers.
Name | Founder Of | Overall |
---|---|---|
Abhijit Keriwal | Hostelmatch | 11 |
Stephanie Curcio | NLPatent | 9 |
Kate Grant | Fasken | 7 |
Derek Jouppi | Advite & Founder Poker | 6 |
Varun Setlur | Prophet | 6 |
Osama Siddique | Kruzee | 5 |
Javad Siahkamari | Kon Aerosystems | 5 |
Christabel Kim | Stealth | 5 |
Prathna Ramesh | FutureSight Ventures | 5 |
Arya Shah | Banjara | 5 |
Timur Luguev | Ecomtent | 5 |
Matthew Wong | "Matt's Unnamed Startup" | 5 |
Mayuran Yogarajah | Index Exchange | 4 |
Lily Tse | ThinkDirty | 4 |
Saud Aziz | Vault | 4 |
Aditi Sitolay | Synoromed | 4 |
Paul Crowe | Metronome | 4 |
Mikerah Q-C | Hashcloak | 4 |
Salim Fakhouri | Stealth | 4 |
Sam Wu | Sabba | 4 |
Jayson Dale | Quiktix | 3 |
Masoud Azizi | Soberfy | 3 |
Ashwin Sureshkumar | Dentacloud | 3 |
Josh Sofer | Ask Lilac | 3 |
Neil Grunberg | Storytime Capital | 3 |
Rachel Baker | Tejo.ai | 3 |
Marium Kirmani | StarterHacks | 3 |
Sennah Mostovac | MaRS IAF | 3 |
Zachary McCue | REPWR | 3 |
Inaara Hasmani | Passage | 3 |
Zahin Hussain | Ankur Capital | 2 |
Sentil Pillai | Palatar | 2 |
Nino Melikidze | Immitracker | 1 |
Adrian Savin | Syzl | 1 |
Godwin Chan | MedMe | 1 |
Isaac Strang | Wilderness Union | 1 |
Ethi Kotiah | VeniceFi | 1 |
Jayden Jung | Stealth | 1 |
Chris Jones | Cannabis Xpress | 1 |
Eunice Wu | Asepha AI | 1 |
Kevin Wu | Greenfreight | 1 |
Aziza Waring | SHILO | 1 |
Emil Kastro | Caria Global | 1 |
Artem Chaykovskyy | Storytime Capital | 1 |
Mila Banerjee | Pronti AI | 1 |
Ali Mirjahani | Flowjin | 1 |
Erica Carnicelli | Impression Ventures | 1 |
Laura Gabor | Ecologicaa | 1 |
Colleen Chang | Tuuli | 1 |
Kajal Bansal | Spark Career Co | 1 |
Fab Hepburn | Cloud Company | 1 |
Jackey Cheng | Dentacloud | 1 |
Dmitry G. | Vendors.ca | 1 |
Miro Cupak | DNAStack | 1 |
Michael Stych | Contend Legal | 1 |
Max Sinclair | Ecomtent | 1 |
Jon Christensen | Bidmii | 1 |
Nick Di Scipio | Pantheon Prototyping | 1 |
Rory Ovas | Polar Labs | 1 |
Nicole Baranowski | Hairstrong | 1 |
Erica Carnicelli | Impression Ventures | 1 |
Trista Gile | Parmazip | 1 |
Kirill Moisyeyev | The Fitting Room | 1 |
John Maggirias | Dentacloud | 1 |
Zain Siddiqui | The Fabricats | 1 |
Simran Nanda | Simply Revenue | 1 |
Linda Montgomery | Mempool Ventures | 1 |
Daniel Rizzi | We-Watch | 1 |
Alexis Wei | Stealth | 1 |
Dragos Cada | PathPeer | 1 |
Shabs Badsha | TrustNet | 1 |
Dan Benin | 021 Strategic | 1 |
Harrison Amit | Hovr | 1 |
Sara Feldstein | Barumba | 1 |
Mohit Arora | Indietech | 1 |
Sid Raghuvanshi | Herald Labs | 1 |
About Founder Poker Toronto
Startups are built on favours, love, guidance, and support of the people surrounding their founders. Most people simplify this to one word; their networks.Founder Poker Toronto is a monthly meetup to make friends, share resources, and network with other active startup founders in Toronto. We have the belief that networking doesn't always have to look like a bunch of people in suits and fancy dresses at a cocktail hour after a conference.Simply, come as you are, help people, and be accountable, and you're welcome here at Founder Poker Toronto.
Ticket Availability
For transparency, here is how we do it. First of all, the venue capacity is ~64 people.The first people to be emailed the password are active startup founders. They will have a week to claim their spotThe second group to be emailed the password are aspiring startup founders & agency founders. They have a week to claim their spot.Then, everyone (i.e. including ecosystem partners, VCs, etc.) will be emailed the password.Our meetup first and foremost caters to tech founders - so they get priority! Hope that's cool with you.
2023 Winners
Name | Founder Of | Overall |
---|---|---|
Sophia Stone | Indietech | 1 |
Artem Chaykovskyy | Storytime Capital | 2 |
Chris Tufford | Green Apple Gives | 3 |
Tavis Lochhead | Kadoa | 4 |
Alex Lam | Rvere | 5 |
Luigi La Corte | Provision | 6 |
Mohit Arora | Indietech | 7 |
Derek Jouppi | Advite | T-8 |
Rachel Cohen-Murison | Viduu | T-8 |
2023 Glory
Name (☑-Finalist) | Founder Of | Points |
---|---|---|
Varun Setlur ☑ | - | 10 |
Dan Pappo ☑ | Agota Health | 9 |
Timur Luguev ☑ | Ecomtent | 7 |
Rich Emrich ☑ | Acuity Insights | 7 |
Sophia Stone ☑ | Indietech | 7 |
Luigi La Corte ☑ | Provision | 5 |
Tony Qu | Sequestr | 5 |
Shazia Akbar ☑ | [Stealth] | 5 |
Max Birner | Boxhub | 5 |
Nimalan Thavandiran ☑ | Tissue-X | 5 |
Justine Ward Luchini | Thirdzy | 5 |
Ishika Mittal | - | 5 |
Mohit Arora ☑ | Indietech | 5 |
Brian Li | - | 5 |
Derek Jouppi ☑ | Advite | 4 |
Josip Vulic | Advite | 4 |
Tavis Lochhead ☑ | Kadoa | 4 |
Rachel Cohen-Murison ☑ | Viduu | 4 |
Joe Noss | - | 4 |
Roy Wainer ☑ | Townish | 4 |
Chris Tufford ☑ | Green Apple Gives | 3 |
Artem Chaykovskyy ☑ | Storytime Capital | 3 |
Alec McIlwraith-Black | Fasken | 3 |
Josh Scachnow | Visto | 3 |
Tarun Agarwal | Two Small Fish VC | 3 |
Zeeshan Jafri ☑ | OVRA | 3 |
Rahul Kulkarni | - | 3 |
Lily Tse ☑ | Think Dirty | 2 |
Hannah Brennen ☑ | ArtHaus | 2 |
Marium Kirmani ☑ | StarterHacks | 2 |
Karan Sawant | Relyft | 2 |
Alex Lam | Rvere | 2 |
Aria Alim | RBCx | 2 |
Antonio Pericao | Noocleus | 1 |
Ian Splinter | Zap Metals | 1 |
Max Woo | LavaReach | 1 |
Juanita Lee-Garcia | Upside Foundation | 1 |
Evelyn Wainewright | Hyperscale | 1 |
Nadia Pulcova | TalentFund | 1 |
Ryan Wong | Mana Knight | 1 |
Farial Karbasi | DesAcc | 1 |
Paolo Leone | Branding Centres | 1 |
Chelsea Vandermeer | Caldera Trade | 1 |
Michael Sousa | SingleKey | 1 |
Eunice Wu | Asepha AI | 1 |
Matthew Wong | Triage Tickets | 1 |
Daniel Lee | Acutehat | 1 |
Martin Hauck | The People People Group | 1 |
Sean Billings | OutPoint | 1 |
Daniel Rizzi | We-Watch | 1 |
Alvin Cheng | Iconthin Biotech | 1 |
Karem Topalismailoglu | The Dressing Room | 1 |
Bernhardt Garlipp | GoodX Healthcare | 1 |
Eliana Bravos | ND Connect | 1 |
Daniel Moss | Padder | 1 |
Natalia Bakaeva | [Stealth] | 1 |
Arthur Sousa | Littl | 1 |
Ege Yay | CloudSale | 1 |
Daniel Benin | Glissner | 1 |
Arron Lin | RBCx | 1 |
Anna Bilan | Arlos | 1 |
Jake Woloshyn | Fasken | 1 |
Vit Vimal | Tuuli | 1 |
Simran Nanda | - | 1 |
Karan Deep | - | 1 |
Zainab Bokhari | - | 1 |
Aman Lohia | - | 1 |
Amin Sammara | - | 1 |
2022 Glory
Date | First | Second | Third |
---|---|---|---|
May 2022 | Akshaj Jain | Nael Cavazos | Derek Jouppi |
June 2022 | Flawnson Tong | Oliver Walerys | Derek Jouppi |
July 2022 | Aman Lohia | Benjamin Parry | Oliver Walerys |
August 2022 | Derek Jouppi | Archie Wood | Vincent Chang |
Sept 2022 | Dragos Cada | Maria O'Rielly | Nims Thavandiran |
Oct 2022 | Donna Yang | Lewis Liu | Sameer Dhar |
Nov 2022 | Nino Melikidze | John Goff | Adam Gronowski |
Dec 2022 | Aman Lohia | Adel Sahawaneh | Derek Jouppi |