The Conversation: Kirsten Koppang Telford on shaping Canadian women’s entrepreneurship

Kirsten Koppang Telford has been a fixture in Vancouver’s tech scene for almost three decades. The North Vancouverite worked in tech communications before she and Christine Sommers co-founded ePACT to establish a secure emergency network used by youth organizations. They sold the business in 2022 and last year, after an interim stint, Koppang Telford was named CEO of the Forum, which pledges to support women’s entrepreneurship in Canada. We met at the Terminal City Club, where the Forum has its Vancouver base.

You’ve been at the Forum for just over a year. How have things gone and what are you most proud of?

Things have gone, in my opinion, really well. I had been on the board for a short time and was just planning to fill the interim role. What I realized when I got into the Forum was the impact of the work that was being done and the opportunity. The whole women’s entrepreneurship ecosystem is at a real tipping point. A lot of government funding has gone into the ecosystem and we have huge momentum in entrepreneurship right now. We really believe we’re at a point with our strategy going forward where we can have a real impact, not only on individual entrepreneurs, but also on the ecosystem as a whole.

The Forum’s Pitch competition (where women entrepreneurs from around the country compete for both funding and mentorship) is one way you do that. What are some others?

We do that through our educational programming. Starting with our E-Series program, where we help entrepreneurs develop business plans, dig into the various aspects of their business, overcome some of the knowledge and skill gaps and build a network. Then we build people into mentorship programs, helping connect them with people who have done it before and can advise in specific areas to help women do the things you need to do in order to scale. Not just go out and get capital like we support through the pitch program, but also to understand how to build a business that can scale.

One of the other things we’re working on is tackling unconscious bias. What we recognize is that there is some of that unconscious bias from all of us in having a perception of what a successful entrepreneur looks like. That’s not only in the minds of capital providers; it can also be in the minds of girls and women themselves in some cases. If we haven’t seen examples of people who look and feel like us, we just don’t go there.

You were on the ground floor of Vancouver’s tech scene. What was that like and where do you think the industry is at right now?

It was so fun, honestly. My first venture was partially owned by Vancouver’s first tech incubator, IdeaPark. We started Vancouver’s first pitch program, called Ideas on Tap. It’s funny—it’s all so full circle. But when I look back and think about the dot-com boom and bust, and the companies that go away and the innovation that comes out of that, any time you have that adversity, there are new opportunities. People get more efficient; they get more creative. If you were trying to raise capital last year it was tough… especially since we had around a decade that was golden. And then the pandemic was wild. You either did really well or you didn’t. There was a lot of fast opportunity. And now it’s hard. I think what will happen out of that is we’ll get some great companies that are a bit more lean. People think differently about building companies at a time like this. I think it’ll rebound.

You’re confident.

Yeah. This’ll be my third cycle like this, right? You look at 2008-09. This is how it goes.

What was it like in that dot-com boom and then bust?

The dot-com boom kind of ran from the late ’90s to the crash in the early 2000s. It was basically overnight. It was very quick. Yaletown went from hopping with tech companies to tumbleweeds rolling down the street. A lot of the same people are still in the tech scene. There’s some who didn’t make it and a number who evolved into new things.

You cofounded ePACT. You were there for 11 years. Why did that company have success? What were the main drivers?

A lot of perseverance [laughs]. I think that my co-founder and I saw a big problem in the world, and we had enough passion to get out and try to solve it. We came into it with a combination of business background, tech background and a strong network. We had no experience building a tech company; that was definitely a learning curve. We were lucky to go through an accelerator program and had early access to capital through that. I’m not going to say it wasn’t hard—it was really hard a lot of the time. But we had a lot of support and a lot of great partnerships that allowed us to grow. We partnered with the Red Cross. That really put us on the map in a lot of ways.

How big was the company when you sold it [to Cincinatti-based Clubessential Holdings in 2022]?

We had around 25 employees supporting millions of end users across North America. It’s used today by Girl Guides of Canada and large parks and recreation departments in the United States.

Was selling it a difficult process?

Exit is always complicated. We had a good opportunity coming out of the pandemic. A category we had created became essential through the pandemic.

What would you say to burgeoning tech entrepreneurs? You’ve been on a lot of sides of it. How can they succeed?

What I typically say to people is resilience. Be prepared for the challenges. Seek help. Ask for advice. Don’t be scared to share, to let people know what you’re doing. Help can come from all kinds of different, unexpected places. And really know your financial options and legal options. Because that’s the foundational stuff on which we build our innovations that can really make a difference as you grow.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Quick Hits

First Job

I was a “trammie” at Grouse Mountain. It was the best job ever—taking visitors from all over the world up and down the mountain on the iconic  red gondola.

Pet Peeve

The phrase “fake it till you make it.”

Hobbies

I’m very interested in yoga, I love a good cold plunge (especially if it’s followed by hot coffee) and I spend as much time as I can hiking, paddleboarding or skiing.

Recent TV/Podcast Binge

The Bear. So good, and so relatable in all that startup angst.

Most Memorable Concert

My first big stadium concert was U2’s Joshua Tree tour. It was a zillion years ago, but I can still hear the entire stadium singing in unison. It felt like an anthem to the power of community.

Guilty Pleasure

Chocolate. So much chocolate.

Favourite Place in B.C.

That’s a tie between Whistler and Deep Cove, which I’m lucky enough to call home.

Last Book I Read

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang. I love historical fiction with strong female characters.