These are the questions founders ask most often before they hire us, answered as directly as we can. If yours isn't here, call, text or email and ask it. A short answer by phone is often faster than reading another page.
Frequently asked questions
What does Canadian.Ventures actually do?
We help founders build a new venture from idea to first paying customers, in four stages: customer discovery, MVP scoping, go-to-market and early operations. Each stage is a defined piece of work with a written result.
How much does it cost?
The first 30-minute consultation is free. Hourly consulting is $175 to $350, projects run $3,500 to $25,000 and retainers $2,500 to $12,000 a month, in Canadian dollars plus GST/HST based on the founder's province (GST and QST in Quebec).
Do you take equity or invest?
No. We are not investors, a fund or an accelerator that takes equity. You pay for advice and keep full ownership of your company.
Can you help me raise money or introduce me to investors?
No. We don't arrange investment or promise introductions, and we don't give securities or investment advice. What we can do is help you build evidence, such as buyer notes and early sales, that any future conversation about money would need.
Am I locked into a contract?
No lock-in. Projects have a fixed scope and end date. For retainers, notice terms are confirmed in writing in your proposal before you sign anything.
How long until I have paying customers?
It depends on the venture, and anyone who gives a firm date without knowing your market is guessing. As a rough guide, discovery and scoping take four to seven weeks combined, and a go-to-market cycle runs eight to twelve weeks after that.
We worked with a consultant before and got a slide deck. How is this different?
Every stage here ends with a working document you use the next Monday: an interview log, a cut list, a funnel sheet, an onboarding sequence. If a deliverable can't be used to make a decision, we haven't finished it.
Who owns the work, accounts and code?
You do, from day one. Documents live in tools you control, any ad or analytics accounts are in your name, and anything your builder makes is yours under your agreement with them.
How do you report progress?
In writing, at a fixed rhythm. Projects get a mid-point review and a final write-up. Go-to-market and retainer work get a short weekly review against the funnel or metrics sheet.
Do you give legal or tax advice?
No. Incorporation, shareholder agreements, customer terms, GST/HST registration and tax credits belong with a lawyer or CPA. We flag when you need them and what to ask.
Can you help with government programs?
We can point you to official program pages such as NRC IRAP, BDC or your regional development agency, and help you organise the venture facts they ask about. Eligibility and approval are always the administrator's decision.
Do I need to be in Vancouver?
No. We work with founders in all 10 provinces and 3 territories, in person or by video call as well as by phone, text and email.
What if the idea turns out not to work?
Then you've found out at the cheapest possible point, and we'll say so plainly. Often the work points to a better buyer or a neighbouring problem, but we won't pretend a weak signal is a strong one.
Money and terms
The short version: you pay for advice, you keep your company, and nothing is open-ended.
Our rates follow the parent practice: consulting from $175 an hour, projects from $3,500 and retainers from $2,500 a month, with a free first consultation. There is also a performance-based Growth Partner Program with limited places. Full details, including a worked budget for a founder with fixed savings, are on the pricing page. We don't take equity, and we don't tie our fees to raising money.
What you'll get, and when
Every stage ends with a document you can use without us. That's the test we hold ourselves to.
- Discovery ends with a problem statement and a ranked buyer list.
- Scoping ends with a build list, a cut list and a success test.
- Go-to-market ends with a funnel sheet and a written channel decision.
- Operations ends with a pricing sheet, onboarding steps and a Monday metrics sheet.
Each is described on the services pages, with typical timelines.
What we won't promise
A start-up advisor who promises customers, funding or a launch date before seeing the market is selling comfort, not evidence.
We won't promise revenue, customers, grants, tax credits, investor meetings or a specific outcome by a specific date. We will promise a written scope, a fixed end date, honest reporting and a plain answer when the numbers say stop. Our results page shows what our HVAC work has achieved and is careful about what that does and doesn't prove for a new venture.
If you've been burned before
Many founders reach us after paying for help that produced little they could use. The usual causes are worth naming, because they tell you what to check with anyone you hire, including us.
- No defined question. The engagement was "help with the launch" rather than "find out whether clinic owners will pay $200 a month". Without a question, there's no way to say whether the work succeeded.
- Activity instead of evidence. Reports listed posts published and meetings held, not buyers interviewed, offers made or customers won.
- Work you couldn't keep. Accounts, files or code sat in the advisor's name, so leaving meant starting again.
- Open-ended billing. No end date, so the engagement drifted.
Our answer to each is structural: a written question, numbers that track buyers rather than activity, everything in your name, and a fixed end date. If any of those is missing from a proposal we send you, push back. A good advisor should welcome the question, and a proposal that can't answer it in writing isn't ready to sign.
Equity, fees and conflicts of interest
Because we don't invest or take equity, our advice isn't shaped by a stake in your company's valuation. We're paid for the work in the proposal, at the rates on the pricing page, or under the terms of a Growth Partner arrangement agreed in writing.
Before you get in touch
You'll get more from the free consultation if you bring a few facts.
- A two-sentence description of the venture: who it's for and what it does.
- What you've built or spent so far.
- How many people outside your circle you've spoken to about the problem.
- Your budget and the date by which you need a result.
If you'd like to do some homework first, the guides cover customer interviews, MVP cut lists and first-customer sales step by step. When you want to talk, the contact page lists the details worth sending.