To celebrate the wrap up of the 2024 SAAS NORTH Conference, the L-SPARK team, our cohort 11 startup founders, and the team at Cube Business Media came together to celebrate the hard work and success of another amazing conference.
And would we really be considered a Canadian accelerator if we didn’t celebrate with anything other than a good ol’ night out at the Sens game?
From the exhilarating goals, nail-biting penalties, delicious food, and beautiful hoop dancing, there were countless highs and lows of the game (especially right up to the final tie-breaker).
While we weren’t able to walk away from the game with a win for the Sens, we were all still buzzing on the way home from the energy of an exciting night out with our ecosystem, and the lessons we learned through the game on ice.
It is those lessons that inspired this very blog.
While founders can seek inspiration anywhere and everywhere for their businesses, we wanted to share some of our notable observations of the game and a couple of the lessons that a game of hockey can teach us about running a great startup.
1. Speed is critical, control is essential.
In hockey, moving fast is almost unavoidable (you try skating in slo-mo on ice). But with speed comes the necessity for control, direction, and purpose so as not to lose your puck, or worse — your shot.
For startups, the same idea applies. In the pursuit of growth and rapid scaling, startup founders need to act quickly to seize market opportunities but must ensure they don’t sacrifice quality or focus in the process.
2. Hone your stamina and endurance.
Hockey players follow strict, rigorous workout and health regimes to help them build up their resilience and capacity to last through 2+ hours at a grueling pace.
While founders aren’t expected to bench 200 in order to secure a sale (shoutout to illuxi’s Philip who ambitiously started a SAAS NORTH running club to run 6am pre-conference 5ks with his team), the need for resilience is a non-negotiable. Challenges are inevitable in the world of startups, even when everything is going well.
The ability of a startup founder to meet these challenges head-on and bounce back time after time is what can make the difference between burning out or making it to a successful exit.
3. Maintain your situational awareness.
When a player is in the zone — zipping down a rink or approaching a clear goal — the excitement can sometimes lead to blinders against the incoming barriers ready to block their shot.
For startups, the momentum from gaining market traction can feel like walking on clouds, but it’s crucial for founders in those moments to ground themselves and be mindful of changes or threats capable of disrupting their progress.
4. Sometimes …. Less is indeed more.
Just like a hockey team picks its star four players to win the game at a tie-breaker, a startup must focus on the few essential tasks needed to secure a win.
The Lean Startup playbook tells us to keep it simple: build a basic product, find your first fans, or perfect your killer feature. By doing less, you can actually achieve more. So, like a hockey team in overtime, stay lean, play hard, and prioritize your startup’s core strengths to win big.
5. Capitalize on Power Plays.
When a hockey team has a player advantage, they must exploit it. Having a competitive advantage is a bare minimum to any successful startup, but some advantages can be temporary or arise in the most unexpected of situations.
Recognizing which differentiators can pull your company on top and when to capitalize on them is exactly how you slingshot your startups growth and give it the momentum and advances it rightfully deserves.
6. Know when to pass.
A team is a team for a reason — the pressure and outcome of the game will never fall solely on one person.
For startup founders, it can often feel like you’re at the top of a mountain holding the entire weight of the world (your company) on your shoulders. Having a strong team or trusted mentor and actually leveraging them by delegating tasks and trusting in their capabilities is crucial for founders to nurture a culture of trust, synergy, and shared ambition toward their goals.
And for the solopreneur without a team? There’s always an accelerator ready to unburden the load and invest in your success 😉.
7. Be Mindful of Line Changes
While players need to count on the team around them on the rink, those on the sidelines eager to sub in are equally as important in ensuring everyone gets the breaks and rest they need throughout the game, because even champions need to catch their breath.
Now for startups, it may not be as easy as letting your jr. developer take over as CEO for a day, but this is still an important lesson for founders to remember that breaks, rest, and refreshing are just as important between the grind in order to stay sharp and secure your wins.
8. The game isn’t over until the buzzer rings.
If there is one bittersweet lesson we learned at the Sens game, it’s that even if you’re leading (or losing) in the game, the score isn’t set until the game is officially over.
Building, scaling, and maintaining a startup is a long game. It comes with plenty of setbacks along the way that can have a founder ready to throw in the towel. But it’s never the end — not until you let it be.
Some of the greatest SaaS founders had to face 1000 no’s until they finally got their big yes, and when you finally do, it makes the whole game worth it in the end.
Every moment — whether at a conference, a boardroom, or a hockey rink—is an opportunity to learn and grow.
These lessons remind us that whether you’re building a SaaS startup or competing on the ice, the journey is about resilience, adaptability, and teamwork.
Thank you to our friends at Wesley Clover for sharing their exclusive box seats and making this night possible for our partners and the cohort 11 startup founders.
And next time, who knows? Maybe it’ll be your startup joining us at the Sens game, celebrating wins both on and off the ice.
