Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why You Should Bootstrap in Montreal or Join Startup Chile

nextmontreal.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 40 posts

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

#31

Post by nkassis »

stan_rogers wrote: post #11
xutopia wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes it would and if you know anything about winter in Canada you'll know that it would be awesome to be in Chile instead of the cold north.

Depending on where you live and work in Montréal, though, venturing outdoors in winter can be almost completely optional. That can be both a blessing and a curse. I lived a workaholic life there for a while and I hear the city's very nice -- but since both my apartment and my office (and the grocery store, restaurants, etc.) were connected to the Metro, I've never actually seen it.

Yeah the underground city is pretty awesome and useful. There are days when you might have to carry a shovel with you(don't think I'm kidding it's not an uncommon sight) when walking outside in the winter but last few winters have been pretty mild (ok last year had a good amount of snow). Global warming's helping ;p

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

#32

Post by ramchip »

nkassis wrote: post #30
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…

For the record, though, Ubisoft is a French company, not a Canadian start-up.

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

#33

Post by iamelgringo »

vsl2 wrote: post #26
iamelgringo wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 -…

My pleasure. As far as I'm concerned, Startup Chile is one of the best sources of early money around for startups.

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

#34

Post by iamelgringo »

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…

"In Silicon Valley they hand out money like candy"

I beg to disagree with you. It's still really hard to raise money. On average, it takes 6 to 9 months to raise a decent round.

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

#35

Post by nkassis »

ramchip wrote: post #32
nkassis wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

For the record, though, Ubisoft is a French company, not a Canadian start-up.

Ah man you are right, sorry for the error (they've had offices here forever but I should have know that).

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

#36

Post by ramchip »

nkassis wrote: post #35
ramchip wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the record, though, Ubisoft is a French company, not a Canadian start-up.

Ah man you are right, sorry for the error (they've had offices here forever but I should have know that).

No problem - a lot of Montrealers have this impression, probably because the Montreal offices are by far the largest.

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

#37

Post by jbarham »

alphamale3000 wrote: post #17
chocoheadfred wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know anything about it but doesn't sound like much fun, winter in Canada.

No need to bash if you don't know anything about it. Winter in Canada is better than most places. Instead of getting lots of rain you get lots of snow. It's nice to have more than 2 or 3 seasons.

> Winter in Canada is better than most places. Instead of getting lots of rain you get lots of snow.

You obviously don't live in Vancouver, where it rains virtually every day for the 6 months of winter (and I say this as someone who lived there for 5 years). Very SAD.

And in Toronto that snow very quickly turns to dirty slush. Gets old real fast.

There's a reason Canadians who move to California tend to stay there. (Well, assuming they can get a green card. I didn't, which is why I'm now in Melbourne.)

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

#38

Post by alphamale3000 »

jbarham wrote: post #37
alphamale3000 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No need to bash if you don't know anything about it. Winter in Canada is better than most places. Instead of getting lots of rain you get lots of snow. It's nice to have more than 2 or 3 seasons.

> Winter in Canada is better than most places. Instead of getting lots of rain you get lots of snow. You obviously don't live in Vancouver, where it rains virtually every day for the 6 months of winter (and I say this as someone who lived there for 5 years). Very SAD. And in Toronto that snow very quickly turns to dirty slush. Gets old real fast. There's a reason Canadians who move to California tend to stay there. (…

The post mentions Montreal. Where it does snow, it rains seldom during winter and sunny, but cold, days are the norm from December to March. You can't generalize on the weather in a 10 million square kilometer country.

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

#39

Post by rbonvall »

fduran wrote: post #14
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.

The weather in Santiago and Central Chile is Mediterranean (wine, fruit), arid in the north and temperate in the south, plus mountainous regions (and polar climate if you count their claimed Antarctica territories) so basically they have all the climates except for tropical.

Easter Island has tropical climate. So yeah, we got 'em all.

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

#40

Post by fduran »

rbonvall wrote: post #39
fduran wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The weather in Santiago and Central Chile is Mediterranean (wine, fruit), arid in the north and temperate in the south, plus mountainous regions (and polar climate if you count their claimed Antarctica territories) so basically they have all the climates except for tropical.

Easter Island has tropical climate. So yeah, we got 'em all.

I stand corrected.
Post reply on HN