Big tech companies may be preparing to downsize, but startups are still hiring like mad. Particularly engineers.

It’s hard for one startup to get noticed above the crowd, but what if twenty of them pool their resources, hold a competition and throw a five day party for top recruits? That’s the goal of Gnip and 19 other Boulder, Colorado based startups who are pitching in $5,000 each to host a multi-day job fair at the end of October.

Engineers are invited to upload their resumes and apply for 100 spots at the event. The applications will be reviewed by the companies, and a total of 100 people will be invited out for an all-expenses paid three day trip. Twenty applicants are rotated through each day over a five day period, with dinners and parties each night.

Read more . . .

This sounds like a perfect project for Toronto startups!  Anyone interested in helping to organize something like this please contact: rsmith[at]innovationtoronto.com.  Let’s see if we can’t build some momentum.

photo credit: Mars Hill Church Seattle

Despite the broader economic rumblings, it’ s never been cheaper to start a company and there’s still a ton of venture money out there. In fact, Ressi told me that there is so much money out there for startups that VCs are now offering to partially buy out founders’ personal stakes to get deals. In effect, they are paying off the founders to pick them. Below is some of his advice for entrepreneurs from his presentation that he just finished onstage:

The only time your lawyers will be honest with you in the venture raising process is when you interview them. After that don’t trust anything they say because their motivation is to close the deal and get the fee.

Read more . . .

Investors pumped C$512 million ($528 million) into new, small businesses across Canada in the three months to the end of September, a 47 percent increase on the same period a year earlier, Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association said.

Read more . . .

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

A growing number of media conglomerates have established divisions to take minority stakes in small Internet and technology companies. Other media companies that already have such venture capital arms are expanding.

Read more . . .