Good post - although I don't agree with the great things that the government of Quebec is doing. Free markets and entrepreneurship are what drive growth in the economy - not government intervention in the investment community.

That statement aside - check out www.entrepreneurship.ubc.ca/fund to see what a group of UBC alumni are putting together in support of UBC student and recent alumni entrepreneurs. (Full disclosure, I'm helping to form this initiative.)

I didn't attend the Expo, so take my comments on the basis that I don't have the experience of enjoying the live conversation. Nonetheless, I do have a passion for this topic.

I read your thread and the accompanying comments and gather that the question was whether the passion/experience had to be present in the same person - the entrepreneur. I suggest that the most successful startups (I've had two, one successful, the second not so much) have both, but they're not necessarily resident in one person.

If a entrepreneur has passion and little experience, he or she could be well served by finding good mentors/advisors who have experience the entrepreneur lacks.

In my first business I no experience, but I was an ambitious and passionate 22 year old - I balanced my weakness out with a partner who had experience in our business. It worked very well.

In my second business, I had gained experience in starting and successfully building a newco, but I had no passion for the business. It took me eighteen months to find a senior team member to join me with much needed passion. We turned the post shortly thereafter, but it was never a real success.