We team up with ridiculously ambitious, yet underestimated founders to build the next generation of Sleeping Giants.

When I think about the role of technology and culture, I liken it to a tree's gradual yet unstoppable growth. Each day, it might seem like the tree remains static and unchanged. Still, it constantly absorbs nutrients from the soil, processes sunlight for energy, and extends its roots deeper into the ground.

The evolution of technology and culture is similar: for the most part, we don't feel the day-to-day movements. There might be the unicorn sunflowers that seem to sprout sporadically, but it is often subtle, compounding over months and years into more apparent changes.

Even the darling child of today's technology landscape, ChatGPT, was the recipe of years of research by disparate teams —including work done in Alberta— and half a dozen years of dedicated development by OpenAI. Just as the roots draw sustenance from the soil, our technological advancements have been deeply woven into the cultures they emerge from.

Conversely, it only takes a moment in history for a tree to fall and succumb to external pressures. Like all living organisms, whether old age, environmental stress or competition, trees eventually perish and make space for future energy. The old guards that once ruled the land are eventually eroded by bureaucratic inefficiencies, internal complacency, unwillingness to change and make room for others, and/or economic downturns.

It's not only a possibility but a necessity to adapt and stay as dynamically shifting as the leaves moving unpredictably on a tree branch.

When we pause to look back, it becomes clear how far we've come. The world has matured radically since the Pioneer Cabin Tree, having tunnels carved within it in the 1880s to finally falling in 2017.

It's a synonymous story with technology intertwining and evolving with culture. My dad grew up in Sierra Leone—famously known for the 400-year-old Cotton Tree—in an era when going to school meant you kept a kerosene lamp by your bedside to read your treasured books that were your only gateway to knowledge outside of your village.

What captivates me now are the budding sprouts of change that will make the future Pioneer Cabin Trees and Cotton Trees for millennia to come.

Suppose the technologies of that time— an overused and generic kerosene lamp and some outdated textbooks — helped him open up a world of possibilities and change the trajectory of his (and his family's) life. What opportunities do our generation and the next have as technological advancement, the moulding of different cultures, and the colliding of disparate ideas permeate on infinite fronts and in every industry and corner of the globe imaginable?

As I reflect, it's remarkable to think that the internet is only ~40 years old, and only in recent relative history have we been able to search the world wide web, connect with global friends & loved ones in seconds, and where mobile penetration rates exceed 7 billion subscriptions globally. Once a nascent entity is now a thriving ecosystem entwined in our culture's fabric, shaping how we live, work, play and evolve.

What captivates me now are the budding sprouts of change that will make the future Pioneer Cabin Trees and Cotton Trees for millennia to come. Those undiscovered and underestimated individuals spend their nights and evenings beside their proverbial kerosene lamps, reading the digital versions of their treasured books, plotting how their gifts will have a societal shift in the world.

If we set out to accomplish fifty things from now until 2030 and we only accomplish half, it serves our community better than setting out to achieve five things and achieving them all.

While I don't have the answers, it's reasonable to assume that significant technological, cultural, and human behaviour transformations will redefine our way of life. It's also my assumption that the solutions we will need in the future will look radically different than what we have today.

Please join us on this journey as we look for ways to celebrate diversity and help more innovative and creative people from underestimated communities achieve their dreams.

After all, taking [big and calculated] risks is the most Edmonton thing you can do.

Step into Project Cotton Tree.

Founding General Partner