Quebec Tech

The Project

• Redefine the mission to align it with the orientations of the Ministry of Economy, Innovation, and Energy.
• Structure the leadership team based on strategic objectives and existing resources.
• Develop target customer profiles and map user journeys to guide service design.
• Review and optimize the service and product portfolio.
• Simplify the organizational structure to increase the organization’s agility and responsiveness.

From Startup Montréal to Quebec Tech

In May 2022, the Ministry of Economy, Innovation, and Energy launched the Québec Research and Innovation Investment Strategy 2022–2027 (SQRI²). With this strategy, the government aims to invest in sustainable and inclusive research and innovation to stand out on the global stage and generate greater economic and social prosperity.

To accelerate progress, the decision was made to transform an existing organization into the key actor for accelerating technological innovation exports. Startup Montréal was about to transform… but into what, exactly?

A Vision Is Always a Bit Fuzzy

When a government, a company, a startup, or a nonprofit begins a major transformation, the starting point is often just a vague idea.

Phrases like “create more economic and social prosperity,” “promote sustainable and inclusive innovation,” or “succeed on a global scale” are inspiring… but they can be brought to life in many different ways. Defining a clear and inspiring ambition isn’t something you do on the back of a napkin!

In this case, Richard Chénier was appointed to lead Startup Montréal and develop a new service offering aligned with the government’s strategic goals. It was up to him to define that ambition!

The Chicken or the Egg?

Every project has to start somewhere. Should we begin by reviewing Startup Montréal’s structure and team? Or its internal processes? Maybe we should start by analyzing the service portfolio? Or by defining the right performance indicators (KPIs)? And what about the ecosystem? Should we focus on Montréal or the entire province? And what do startups want? What do they need? And where does the human factor come into play?

These are just a few of the many questions, and the first answer is almost always: “well… it depends.” And what does it depend on? First, the SQRI². Then, on Richard. Then on the leadership team, and of course, on the Startup Montréal teams.

This is the order in which we structured our intervention: understanding how teams moved from a ministerial vision to a complete organizational transformation that would benefit the entire province.

Start by Dreaming

As mentioned, the starting point was a bill. Not the most inspiring material: technical, precise, functional. Usually, a “vision, mission, and values” are already defined before a project begins — but when it's your job to write them, you need to take a step back.

Writing this type of document can feel artificial, and it’s demanding work. Fortunately, Richard is an excellent speaker — capable of motivating and inspiring. Writing a manifesto became our starting point. Through a concise, compelling text, this manifesto helped us articulate the core elements of the new vision — one that gives people the desire to learn more and, more importantly, to take action.

With this reference in hand, we moved on to the next phase. From the manifesto came the value proposition, then the “mission, vision, and values,” accompanied by a short summary of what the organization would be — and what it would not be. Nothing was set in stone yet, but transformation work is inherently iterative. You learn by doing.

You can imagine the number of (sometimes difficult) discussions needed to define all these elements — and the insights that emerged. That’s why the role of the strategic facilitator is crucial: to help people move forward without doing the work for them.

At the same time, Ax.C was created — a new hub that would welcome startups, partners, and events tied to the strategy. Who does what? How do we select the companies to highlight? Which sectors? Which continents?

We were now moving toward more concrete decisions. But how could we know we were on the right track? What would the future Startup Montréal need to say in order to declare: “We succeeded”?

It was only after building a system rooted in the manifesto that we could define the important metrics. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) only matter if they measure the right things. And because our approach was systemic, we were able to trace back and identify the two main KPIs: the international revenue of supported startups and the number of startups supported in their international commercialization.

From these indicators, each team developed complementary metrics tied to their specific objectives — ensuring everyone had ownership of a part of the whole. Yes, this was heavily inspired by the OKR approach.

All of this, from a manifesto — a solid thread connecting inspiration to action.

The key learning from this phase is that strategy always begins abstractly. Often, what triggers a transformation is something emotional. What seems blurry — or even a bit crazy — becomes an opportunity to structure, refine, debate, and share. Our approach guides teams through these strategic discussions, one phase at a time. From abstract to concrete.

From Startup to Scaleup. From Local to International.

The mission changed, the vision changed… and the services and customer experience would soon follow.

But how do you build a service portfolio? And what exactly *is* a service portfolio?

Let’s start with what Startup Montréal was — and what it needed to become.

Startup Montréal’s mission had been to champion Montréal’s ecosystem and generate positive outcomes for the city.

The new mission: to showcase Québec’s ecosystem on the global stage and accelerate startups so they can become scaleups.

This may seem simplified, but it helps clarify that the clients were changing — moving from the Montréal ecosystem to high-potential startups (future scaleups) — and that the geographic focus was shifting from “for Montréal, in Montréal” to “for Québec, internationally.”

A Unique Context

Who in Québec specializes in organizational transformation for international accelerators focused on scaleups? The answer: no one. This was a first for Québec.

There are many incubators and experts in the local ecosystem, but this particular challenge was unprecedented. So we approached it with humility: applying best practices by conducting research and interviews to understand the context. Many interviews — conducted by Startup Montréal, with our support for the setup and analysis.

All the interviewees were entrepreneurs who had succeeded internationally. We wanted to understand what type of support *they* wished they had had.

They told us what made a difference, what wasted their time, which programs or subsidies were most valuable, the cultural shocks they faced when selling abroad, and how long they had cash on hand during their early stages.

Legal challenges are real — so are human ones. It’s not easy.

Ultimately, we learned that the help they needed wasn’t inside their company or related to innovation — it was external support, outside their expertise: administrative, legal, regulatory… and time to think.

And What About the Service Portfolio?

What is it, really?

A service portfolio is the full set of services an organization offers its clients. These services are often grouped into “products.”

For example, in our context, a simple product could be a one-day program called “Lightning Program,” which might include several services: a keynote, a startup audit, a networking session, and a 5–7 event. Every product delivers a service — and understanding these dynamics ensures the portfolio makes sense.

It seems simple, but interviews with successful entrepreneurs revealed more than 50 essential services, grouped into six major categories. These services addressed highly specific needs — the kind of needs impossible to identify from our external perspective alone.

Of course, not all services have the same importance or impact. That’s why we measured their value through a quantitative survey.

This exercise allowed us to identify — and prioritize — the five most important services to launch the transformation. These also became the foundation for early communications.

What we learned throughout this process was pivotal:

To understand which services to offer and how to shape products, you must first know what actually brings value to people. Through interviews and qualitative research, we were able to prioritize and decide what needed to be done — backed by evidence.

Designing an Organization Is Continuous Work

We supported the organization for eight months — sometimes very present, sometimes working in the background. At times, the work meant demystifying the relationships between actors in the global ecosystem; at others, it meant reviewing selection processes or choosing judges. Concrete, abstract, and everything in between!

The reality is that running an organization like Startup Montréal while transforming it is massive. Oh — and there was another challenge: maintaining the old service portfolio while building the new one.

To transform Québec and its startups, progress must happen gradually.

You need a clear vision — but also the flexibility to change plans when needed.

A four-year vision, but execution quarter by quarter.

We operate in a constantly shifting — sometimes unstable — environment. Understanding your organization deeply is essential to know when and how to pivot.

Startup Montréal (now QuebecTech) wanted to become the coach for Québec’s best startups — the ones that would represent us internationally.

This analogy also reminded us of the Olympic cycle: four years — and consistent training to win gold.

Or, in the spirit of the SQRI², we must invest in sustainable and inclusive innovation to generate economic and social prosperity.