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Why You Should Bootstrap in Montreal or Join Startup Chile

nextmontreal.com

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Re: Why You Should Bootstrap in Montreal or Join Startup Chile

#21

Post by acangiano »

There are several reasons why you generally have a huge disadvantage when doing a startup in Canada, and it's not just about taxes and laws.

Want to use that cool new service (e.g., Stripe)? Sorry, not available in Canada.

Want to start a service that ships anything in the mail? Prohibitively expensive.

Want funds? Banks won't lend you anything and investors are very few and risk averse. $20-50K investments in web startups are rare and big news when they happen.

I love Canada and I'm not moving from it. But Canadian entrepreneurs have much lower chances of succeeding than American ones.

Can you make millions in Canada? Sure, but it's a much less likely occurrence. And if you do, it will generally be still less than what American startups can make.

This is why it makes no sense to start a company like Twitter in Canada. You can't sustain it. The best approach for Canadian startups is to bootstrap by charging money from day one.

So you can get a lot of nice "Italian restaurants on the web" doing SaaS and making good money, but don't expect groundbreaking innovation a la Google from Canada.

With that said, those who are already in Canada, like me, have no free pass. If you don't succeed, you can only blame yourself.

"In Silicon Valley they hand out money like candy" is not a good excuse for never achieving your dreams in Canada.

Re: Why You Should Bootstrap in Montreal or Join Startup Chile

#23

Post by alphamale3000 »

acangiano wrote: post #21

There are several reasons why you generally have a huge disadvantage when doing a startup in Canada, and it's not just about taxes and laws. Want to use that cool new service (e.g., Stripe)? Sorry, not available in Canada. Want to start a service that ships anything in the mail? Prohibitively expensive. Want funds? Banks won't lend you anything and investors are very few and risk averse. $20-50K investments in web st…

Ever heard of Delaware LLC? No need to live there, and you'll be able to use Stripe. All that will cost you less than private healthcare in the US.

You'll find investors. But they all sleep together, and don't compete.

What about the success stories? Radian6, BeyondTheRack, etc. There won't be as much, our economy is 1/10 of the size.

I agree Canadian entrepreneurs have lower chances of getting multi-million VC rounds, but that doesn't necessarily mean lesser chances overall.

You need to change your mindset. It's all the naysayers that push Canadian startups to sell lower.

Re: Why You Should Bootstrap in Montreal or Join Startup Chile

#24

Post by zmitri »

hugacow wrote: post #16
zmitri wrote: post #12

As someone who lived in Montreal for 4 years, it gets old pretty quick. I now live in Brooklyn for comparable prices to what I paid in Montreal (rent is a bit more, but food is dirt cheap in NY) and like it much more.

I can't see how doing a startup in Canada in general is a good idea. Policies there are a lot more restrictive than the states. It's a great place to visit, though.

I agree. Consider these two things:

1) Verizon has twice as many subscribers as Canada's population. The US is a way bigger market.

2) Generally people aren't as excited about your ideas as they are in SF or NYC. People here seem to be way more receptive to innovation.

That being said, Canada has a great education system and there are a lot of smart motherfuckers. Too bad the immigration situation kind of sucks for founders.

Disclosure: I am Canadian

Re: Why You Should Bootstrap in Montreal or Join Startup Chile

#25

Post by nico »

joelrunyon wrote: post #8

Pretty cool, but Chile is hardly in the tropics. South America isn't automatically warm just because it's "south" :). That said, it looks like a killer opportunity. I've looked at this before and it's really going to be interesting to see the different experiences that these startups have come through over the coming months.

Weather in Chile is pretty much the same as in California, and varies the same as you travel away from the Equator. Santiago, the capital, has about the same weather as San Jose.

Re: Why You Should Bootstrap in Montreal or Join Startup Chile

#26

Post by vsl2 »

iamelgringo wrote: post #15
vsl2 wrote: post #7

Not much information about other requirements for Startup Chile in the article. Through Startup Chile's website: Teams must also give workshops, attend events etc., which hopefully won't be too big of a hassle. Not sure if you have to keep your business in Chile for a certain amount of time afterwards. Government support and involvement: Possibly good or bad.

I've been talking with a number of directors at length about the program, and we've been promoting it at Hackers & Founders. There is no requirement after the 6 months. And, the government support is all about walking you through the legal loop holes, and then generally getting out of the way.

Thanks for the additional information. It sounds like really interesting opportunity, particularly for those wanting to learn about a new culture.

And on second thought, the workshops and events are probably a good thing in that you're forced to step outside your intense startup focus to meet new people and maybe find prospective friends/users/employees/investors.

I really liked Santiago when there for study abroad - nice people and very modern city. Only complaint would be the air pollution because of the "containment" effect of the surrounding Andes mountains.

Re: Why You Should Bootstrap in Montreal or Join Startup Chile

#27

Post by volandovengo »

acangiano wrote: post #21

There are several reasons why you generally have a huge disadvantage when doing a startup in Canada, and it's not just about taxes and laws. Want to use that cool new service (e.g., Stripe)? Sorry, not available in Canada. Want to start a service that ships anything in the mail? Prohibitively expensive. Want funds? Banks won't lend you anything and investors are very few and risk averse. $20-50K investments in web st…

I agree with a lot of what you're saying but I think if your focus is to create an italien restaurent on the net, which you entirely own, I think your chances for success are actually better in Canada than the us.

Re: Why You Should Bootstrap in Montreal or Join Startup Chile

#29

Post by nkassis »

jleyank wrote: post #19
hugacow wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't see how doing a startup in Canada in general is a good idea. Policies there are a lot more restrictive than the states. It's a great place to visit, though.

Health coverage.

I have to say this is a big one for me. It gives a lot more freedom and it's one less thing to stress about.

Re: Why You Should Bootstrap in Montreal or Join Startup Chile

#30

Post by nkassis »

acangiano wrote: post #21

There are several reasons why you generally have a huge disadvantage when doing a startup in Canada, and it's not just about taxes and laws. Want to use that cool new service (e.g., Stripe)? Sorry, not available in Canada. Want to start a service that ships anything in the mail? Prohibitively expensive. Want funds? Banks won't lend you anything and investors are very few and risk averse. $20-50K investments in web st…

I sorta agree with you about the hurdles but there has a been a bunch of very sucessful startups in Canada. I can't name you a google but Softimage, Ubisoft, Bioware, RIM, ATI, Desire2Learn... and on the non tech side Cirque Du Soleil(Founder just went to space last year) All pretty big successes. For 1/10 the population as the US you can't expect the same level of output.

On the talent side, Montreal and the Toronto area are pretty big recruiting grounds for Microsoft Google and other tech companies. Tons of Game companies have established themselves in Montreal to draw on that pool. There is a lot of talent here and a lot of people would want to stay here instead of working in the US.Montreal's 2 english universities and a lot of French ones around help keep replenishing the supplies. Toronto has some very good schools too (Waterloo being one of the best Comp Sci program in the world).

There are a bunch of ways to get government money but it does involve some major red tape. It be cool to find someone who's gone through it and could make a writeup on it.

EDIT: I should also mention that there are other good cities in Cananda ;p I did not mention Vancouver

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