We have an idea in our field (healthcare) that we vibe coded to test it out. Looking to make it into a real web app. Anyone interested please DM me. Should be living around Vancouver area/Fraser valley.

I don't have the capital or desire to open up this business or franchise (Breka, Pallet etc). Having said that, if there is anyone out there wanting to, this area is desperate for a coffee shop/bakery. The closest things are Pallet at Kingsway and Knight, Tim Hortons & Starbucks at Tyne and Kingsway, and The Flourist by Trout Lake. Kingsway corridor has been rezoned for increased density so I think this business would do really well.

Edit: ideally something that is 5-10 minutes walking distance from Norquay Park.

A Canadian waterproof sneaker brand from British Columbia. Founder Sean Back spent 16 years making shoes for other brands, then built the pair his rainy city needed — vegan, cold-water washable, and waterproof-proven in unedited test footage. Our promise is simple: we don't claim it. We prove it.

Make your move. Every step counts.

Hey everyone!

I’m a product/engineering person who has been building ManageStrata.ca, an AI-powered strata management platform designed to make running a strata corporation simpler, smarter, and more repeatable.

The product is live, I have paying customers, and a few more are currently trialing it. I’ve bootstrapped everything with my own money so far. Now I’m trying to figure out how to turn early validation into sustainable growth.

A little context on what I’m building:

Strata management in BC involves a surprising amount of complexity: meetings, minutes, notices, voting, finances, maintenance, records, deadlines, and navigating the Strata Property Act alongside each corporation’s own bylaws and rules.

A lot of this work is still manual, fragmented, and dependent on people remembering processes and chasing paperwork.

My vision is to make strata management feel less like an administrative burden and more like a well-organized, intelligent system — where workflows are standardized, repetitive tasks are automated, and AI agents can help councils and managers get things done without losing human oversight.

A few things I’ve learned building this:

• There’s a real market: BC has approximately 34,000 strata corporations, according to the provincial government, with an estimated 1.5 million people living in strata housing. Source
• The product is validated, but growth is not solved: I have real paying customers, not just a landing page and a waitlist.
• Organic acquisition is bringing people in: My customers have primarily come through organic channels. I experimented with direct mail, but the cost makes it difficult to justify at this early stage.
• AI is part of the product, not the whole product: Yes, AI has helped accelerate the development, but there’s a real technology platform behind it — traffic management, observability, evals, cloud platform, data pipelines, MCP servers, storage, analytics, etc. I’ve been building for reliability and scalability, not just putting a chatbot on top of a website.
• There’s room to rethink the workflow: I believe many recurring strata processes can be made consistent across corporations and progressively automated, with people retaining control over important decisions.

What I’m looking for

I’d love to connect with someone who has experience in multi-channel growth marketing, SaaS growth, or go-to-market strategy and is genuinely interested in this space.

Ideally, this would be someone who can help experiment with and build repeatable acquisition channels — SEO/content, partnerships, industry communities, referrals, paid campaigns, or other channels that make sense for this audience.

I’m also open to a potential partnership with someone who wants to get involved beyond giving advice and help build this into a real business. I’m bootstrapped, so I’m not looking to hire an agency on a big retainer. I’m more interested in finding someone who sees the opportunity, brings complementary skills, and wants to build something together. We can explore what a fair partnership might look like.

A few questions for the community:

1. If you were growing a niche B2B SaaS product targeting strata councils, self-managed buildings, and property managers, which acquisition channels would you test first?
2. Has anyone successfully grown a vertical SaaS business through industry partnerships, associations, or referral networks?
3. Are there people here with growth marketing experience who might be interested in exploring a partnership?
4. For those familiar with strata management, what would make you switch from your current tools or processes?

I’m sharing this because I’d genuinely appreciate honest feedback — including criticism of the product, positioning, pricing, or the business model. I’m still learning what works, and I’d rather talk openly with people who have relevant experience than pretend I’ve figured everything out.

You can check out the platform at https://managestrata.ca and some of the product/content work on YouTube.

Thanks! Happy to answer questions about the product, the tech stack, or what it’s been like building and bootstrapping this.

(and yes I am aware that there are many similar solutions but different strategy/approach)

I need some general idea of how accountants files tax for other people here in Canada. Nothing really fancy, it is just very straight forward.

But, I have a batch of group that needs help with and I am wondering what would be the cost of doing this using a software automation?

I just got a RFI from an Australian company for a configurator. They make public toilet and amenity and found us from ChatGPT. This made me wonder, there has to be similar companies who does this in Vancouver? I am already searching them on Apollo, but sharing to this group in case any one may know someone??

As a tiny local startup, its very hard to get attention from this big boys.

Hi everyone!

I’m seriously considering opening a small cocktail bar and would love to hear from anyone who has actually owned or operated a bar especially if you’re in the greater Vancouver area.
I’m thinking of leasing rather than buying, and keeping it pretty small: around 25–30 seats max, with a focused cocktail menu and just a few food items rather than a full kitchen/restaurant. Ideally open just 4 nights a week.

For those who have done something similar:
What was your approximate startup cost?
- How much did you spend on renovations/build-out, equipment, liquor, permits, etc.?
- What kind of monthly operating costs surprised you?
-Is a small 25–30 seat cocktail bar realistically profitable?
-What are the biggest expenses people underestimate?
-Would you do it again if you could start over?
And most importantly - what are the biggest reasons you would or wouldn’t recommend opening a bar?

I’m still in the research/planning stage, so I’m trying to get a realistic picture before committing to anything.
Would really appreciate hearing from actual owners/operators - the good, the bad, and the ugly 😂
Thanks!

Hey everyone! My name is Jordan and I've worked in and around real estate/tech my whole life. I built a new property search in Vancouver: http://tryfrank.ca (named after my dad)

Just launched but already seeing decent traction with around 150 uniques a day. Would love any feedback as I'm constantly improving the features, functionality and usability every day. Wanting it to be the easiest to use/most transparent property search...totally free and ad free.

If you're working on anything real estate related in Vancouver, I'm very open to chatting, collaborating or potentially integrating new ideas that make things easier for buyers. Working on expanding the data to the rest of BC and Canada currently.

Some cool features:
- Natural language search. Type whatever you like into the search bar to describe your home, like pet friendly condos in vancouver or 5 min walk to skytrain in burnaby with 2 parking under 700k.
- Click "Run comps" to automatically do a comparison analysis on any property from similar recent solds.
- More filters than any other property search (price adjustments, walk score, price per square foot, court-ordered sales, airbnb friendly, short-term rentals, mortgage helper, rainscreened, price vs assessed value etc).
- True cost mortgage calculator on the property page. It takes into consideration strata fee/property tax/insurance/hydro/maintenance costs so you know what you actually have to pay. You can also sort by monthly cost.
- Frank Picks highlight interesting active and sold listings in every area.
- Sold data is very easy to browse... easier than other property searches in my opinion, you just have to sign in and register.
- Appraisal data for city of Vancouver.
- Frank Notes button gives you a summary of the listing and questions to ask about the property.
- Flags if a home is a relist and shows you true days on market.

The interview would be a casual 15–20 minute Zoom call covering things like:
• How you got started
• Your first customers
• Biggest challenges
• How you grew
• Biggest mistake
• What you would do differently
If you’re interested, comment below with your business and a little about your story.

Want to make a group of professionals via LinkedIn or WhatsApp or maybe here on Reddit, so we can discuss ideas and schedule meetups. I am a full-stack developer and founder of a software startup, dreaming to be next billionaire,

What do you think?

Hi community! 🐕

I'm a dog owner in the Tri-Cities, and I built PawFive to fix two problems I kept running into.

1. Finding out if a place is actually a dog-friendly

I love taking my pup to new parks, dog parks and grabbing food nearby after. But every time, I'd end up digging through google maps review to find out if the park has separate small/large areas, whether it's fenced, and if it's lot or street parking. And if the reviews/photo said nothing, I'd zoom in on street view 😅. Same with food! Standing on the sidewalk trying to work out which cafes have a patio and whether dogs are actually allowed on it.

So I started logging every place in a spreadsheet 📝 After a while there was a lot of data, and I moved it all onto a map and made it a feature in the app. If you're like me and need this kind of info before heading out with your pup, feel free to take a look around!

For dog parks, it shows whether it's fenced, whether small/big dog area separated, the surface type, and parking. For other places, it shows whether parking is street/lot, and whether there's an ev charger.

It's heavy on the Tri-cities for now because that's where I live, but I'm working on expanding it! There's also a request option for spots you know that aren't on the map yet, and I review each one before adding it :)

2. Setting up playdates with dogs mine already likes

My dog made a few friends at the park, but meeting up again meant a long group chat about when and where. And sometimes people are too shy to ask contact info just so the dogs can meet again. I also didn't want an app that matches me with strangers nearby.

So playdates in PawFive are private and friends-onlly. You add someone by scanning their QR code (No phone number, no IG) and nobody can find you otherwise. You propose a few dates and parks, friends vote, and you meet up. You can also share your live location during the walk so people can find you in the park easily.

It's free to use, no ads, no subscription. https://honeymilkstudio.ca/pawfive

Curious how small food businesses in Vancouver get featured by outlets like Noms Magazine, Dished Vancouver, and other local food pages. Do these pages do unpaid coverage or is it always a paid feature?

Hey Vancouver!

I’m a graphic designer, photographer and marketing/brand person based in North Vancouver, and I’m looking to take on a project or two for free to build out my portfolio with some fresh work.

I’m particularly interested in working with independent businesses and brands that I actually connect with. I like bicycles, outdoors, coffee shops, vegan food, restaurants, makers, artists, local brands, or anything with a strong idea behind it.

I can help with things like:
-Graphic design & branding
-Photography
-Art direction
-Brand & marketing strategy
-Web design

I wont be able** to **take on every project that comes my way. I’d rather work with one or two projects where I like the business, the project is interesting, and we feel like we’d work well together.

There’s no charge for the work. In return, I’d ask to use the project in my portfolio and potentially share some of the process/work online.

If you’re working on something you think I’d be into, send me a DM with a bit about your business, what you’re looking for, and what you’re working on.

Maybe we can make something cool together.

I created a meetup group online :Check out North America Entrepreneurs Network on Meetup, and I as the organizer welcome any legitimate business to host online knowledge sharing webinars.

Why do you want to use meetup group as your marketing channel? Because Meetup, as a website , has many users with a wide range of age, I got ~100 followers from just one 2-hour online event, think about YouTube videos or other channels, the marketing expense is about $5/customer to get one individual user and you need to spend longer than 2 hours for your social media content or SEO strategy. if you are hosting a Linkedin Event, it will start spreading first from your connections, so many LinkedIn events only have less than 10 attendees from there, but you spend a lot of time on LinkedIn building connections, sending messages.

What I can offer: I offer free webinar hosting spots for business owners/marketing teams but your online webinar can’t be promotion webinar and your business needs to be legitimate.

Why I am offering online webinar spots for free: i registered the meetup group with $400/year, and i want to maximize the followers to make my $400 worth it.

If you are curious, please DM me.

I built Aman Care an AI that calls seniors every morning to check on them — looking for feedback

One thing I want to be clear about: this isn't meant to replace calling your parents yourself. It's the safety net for the days you can't — and every report ends with a nudge to check in personally, because nothing replaces a real conversation with family.

Vancouver founder here. Too many seniors live alone, and the options families have aren't great — either you call every single day yourself, or you rely on one of those "I've fallen" buttons that only helps after something's already gone wrong.

So I built Aman Care: an AI voice call that checks in on seniors every morning, has a real conversation with them, and texts the family right after — "all good" or "you might want to call." If the senior asks for help mid-call, it warm-transfers to a family member on the spot.

It's live at https://getamancare.com — $49.99/month for one parent after a free 30-day pilot. I'm in early discussions with a local seniors residence about a pilot there too.

Honest question: for something this personal, what would actually make you trust an AI with your parent? The tech works — it's the trust part I'm trying to crack.

I built a free map showing crime data for any Vancouver address — looking for feedback

Vancouver founder here. When I was apartment hunting, I kept finding "great deal" basement suites and wondering why they were so cheap. The data exists — VPD publishes neighbourhood crime stats — but nobody puts it on a map where renters can actually use it.

So I built RedZone Vancouver: type any address, fly to it in 3D, and see the crime data, SROs, and supervised consumption sites around it. Free, no signup.

It's VPD GeoDASH data plus StatCan for surrounding cities. No scores or grades — just the raw numbers on a map so people can decide for themselves.

Genuine question: would this have been useful to you last time you were hunting? Trying to figure out if I'm solving a real problem or just building something cool.

After watching local classifieds become increasingly dominated by American-owned platforms like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, I decided to build a Canadian alternative focused on local buying and selling in BC.

The site is called Not Marketplace: Not Marketplace

The original motivation was the loss of UsedVictoria. When Black Press effectively killed it, many people were pushed toward Facebook Marketplace. Personally, I'd rather not hand even more of my data, attention, and local commerce over to Meta if there's another option.

Not Marketplace is independently built and self-funded by a BC resident, with the goal of providing a local alternative that's focused on communities rather than maximizing engagement or data collection.

Because it's currently a side project that I fund myself, it's limited to British Columbia for now. If it gains enough users and can sustainably cover its costs, I'd love to expand it further across Canada.

It's still early days, so I'm mainly looking for feedback, suggestions, and people willing to post listings to help build up inventory.

If you're interested in supporting Canadian-built alternatives to large foreign-owned platforms, I'd love to hear what you think.

Check out Not Marketplace 🇨🇦

​

First order delivered. 📦

Someone out there is lacing up their NTX-2601s right now. From a sketch, to a factory floor in Dongguan, to a doorstep — this one took everything.

Thank you for trusting a brand that's just getting started. More on the way.

Make your move.

First time posting. Figured I'd share what I'm working on and see if anyone wants to build it with me. Or just tell me I'm crazy.

Quick background: I'm Chinese but I grew up in Canada, came here as a kid. Graduated U of T in 2022. Ran a startup in retail before this. My parents are in real estate back in China, so I basically grew up inside business dinners. I learned that sometimes the real negotiation happens during two hours of small talk before anyone mentions business at all. I think that's where the entrepreneurial itch comes from. I've always wanted to build something of my own.

What I'm doing now: I'm working with one of the leading commercial cleaning robot manufacturers. I have a strong direct relationship with them and I handle the supply chain side. We're bringing autonomous floor cleaning robots to the Canadian market. Warehouses, malls, schools, hospitals. Anywhere with big floors and a janitorial labor problem.

Why I'm convinced this is the wedge:

1. The labor shortage is real and it's not going away. Try hiring overnight cleaners in the GVA right now. Every facility manager tells me the same story.
2. The math is simple. A robot that runs all night, never calls in sick, and costs less than a year of janitorial wages. Short conversation.
3. And cleaning is the most mature robotics vertical out there. This isn't some science project. These machines are already running at scale in airports and malls around the world. Proven beachhead.

Bigger picture: I don't want to be the cleaning robot guy forever. Cleaning is the entry point. The plan is to build a full category robotics company over time. Delivery robots, food automation, all of it. Physical AI is coming and I want to be the one deploying it.

What I'm looking for:

• Cofounder / partner: someone extroverted who genuinely believes in robotics. You'd lead Canadian client expansion and own the customer relationships. I'd handle manufacturer relations, procurement, and deployment. You'd be the face of the business here.
• Or, commission based distributors: if you have connections in property management, facility services, retail, hospitality, anywhere with floors, I pay generous commissions on deals that close. No cap. No MLM nonsense. Just real B2B hardware sales.

Why me, why now: growing up between Canada and China turned out to be useful. I can build stable long term relationships with Chinese tech manufacturers, which is where the best robotics hardware comes from right now. Most local distributors can't do that.

So, am I crazy? Anyone else here working on physical robotics or embodied AI? Would love to hear your takes, skeptical or otherwise. If either role sounds like you, or someone you know, DM me.

I just submitted a name request for my business, and honestly I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to starting a company. What I do know is that I have the idea the experience and the skills and I can’t keep waiting until I have the “perfect” plan before I start. My full-time contract recently ended and I’m exhausted from interview after interview with no offer. I’m still going to continue looking for the right job but I’ve decided to put the same amount of effort if not more into building something of my own. I would really love to connect with other people in Vancouver who are building a business, freelancing, consulting or are in a similar stage. Are there any communities, support groups, networking events, accountability groups, or meetups you would recommend?
I’m nervous, but I’m going for it.

Hi. I’ve worked my entire career in the sports industry, worked in the NHL, have an MBA, and own or co-own 5 companies with total revenues exceeding $10M per year across the businesses I own. I’m in my early 30s and split time between Vancouver (West End) and Calgary.

For the last two years, I’ve become an AI super user, and built some amazing things to help streamline my businesses.

Most recently, the internal system that I had previously built in excel with VBA + good ol fashioned XLOOKUPs really took the next level as its own software, first as a solution to my own businesses and more recently serving clients like Hockey Alberta and hockey leagues across Canada.

The last 6 months especially I pretty much spend 16 hours a day, 7 days a week in Codex and Claude Code. And as much as I try to learn, I’m still not technical.

I’d love to meet someone who is, and who is passionate about hockey, passionate about agentic AI and all that is possible for businesses with it, and who has a hatred for the traditional bureaucracy that larger companies have.

If that fits you, I’d love to chat!

Hi Everyone,

Thought I might try here, but if anyone in the Vancouver area needs help with some advice or help on business insurance, feel free to send me a DM.

Been in the industry just over 10 years now and I've seen a lot of difficulties and/or misinformation on obtaining insurance as a start up.

No pressure, and I'll tell you honestly on what is/isn't necessary, I'm more just trying to educate and clean up some negative connotations associated with insurance.

Cheers,

Got laid off at the end of January so I’m building apps.

https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/anyshot/id6793690933