In honour of this past weekend's Canada Day festivities, I thought it would be appropriate to pay tribute to some of my favourite made-in-Canada Internet ventures:
RedFlagDeals.com
This site just gets better and better every year. It's a Canadian bargain hunter's dream come true, and is the first (and usually only) place I need to turn when I am looking for discounts or coupons on offline or online merchandise. RedFlagDeals.com recently launched a hotel finding service that is one of the smartest and focused Web tools I've ever seen. Keep up the great work, eh!
iPermitMail
I cannot say enough good things about this challenge-response spam blocking system; it has literally changed my life. Last month alone, this made-in-Canada service blocked over 17,500 junk emails from cluttering up my in-box, saving me an estimated 23 hours of valuable time. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw spam; that's how good this system is. And it only costs $5 a month!
(Update - November 25, 2006: iPermitMail has changed its pricing model and functionality, so it no longer suits my particular needs. After careful research and consideration, I have switched to SpamArrest, which is a very solid alternative to iPermitMail.)
CityMax
I can hear the Web designers screaming in horror as I write this, but if someone wants a decent-looking, full-featured, multi-page Website but has less than $500 to spend, Vancouver's CityMax is the answer. Yes, do-it-yourself Website solutions like CityMax have lots of limitations and the 'designs' are generic, but for some entrepreneurs and small businesses, this is the only way they would ever be able to launch their first Website.
Happy Birthday, Canada!
Hi Bill,
Thanks for profiling RFD!
Just wanted to let you know that I have launched my own blog as promised on OneDegree at www.storyofastartup.com
Cheers!
Posted by: Ryan - RFD | July 10, 2006 at 05:24 PM