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A Damning Look at the Canadian Tech Sector

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Re: A Damning Look at the Canadian Tech Sector

#21

Post by adambard »

jschem wrote: post #17

To me Canada's tech sector isn't damned; just dwarfed when it is compared to our much larger southern neighbour. The economy of Canada isn't really based around innovation and technology but rather primary industries like oil/gas/lumber/etc... so it makes sense that our business focus’ on our unique advantage. To me is seems that starting and growing a business is harder to do in Canada then in the States. Just as an…

> primary industries like oil/gas/lubber/etc.

You're missing an m or a b there.

Re: A Damning Look at the Canadian Tech Sector

#22

Post by faramarz »

This post is great! It gets the juices going. It describes everything wrong and everything right about Canada's tech market and i'm so glad you wrote this. It's the Manifesto we needed.

I'm already excited about the opportunities ahead. I'm in. I'll do my part, starting Today!

Aside: I think I finally found a use for my domain torontotech.org - colleagues and collaborators wanting to take part, get in touch

Re: A Damning Look at the Canadian Tech Sector

#24

Post by bentlegen »

zmitri wrote: post #12

As a Canadian who has lived in NYC for 2 years, and just had to go back to Canada for 2 weeks, this is spot on. There are tons of smart Canadians due to the great education system, but Canadians in general don't appreciate success in the same way Americans do. When I quit my job to start my own thing in America, all my co-workers and friends were pumped up and excited, while many Canadians were perplexed and asked qu…

> Canadians don't appreciate success in the same way Americans do

> My goal was to try and build something out of nothing and hopefully be the best in the world.

Can I counter your personal anecdote about your friends not appreciating success, with your own personal story of founding a business?

I grew up outside of Toronto, and I'm friends with a dozen Canadians that have founded technology companies. I wouldn't say that we "don't appreciate success".

The point isn't that I'm right and you're wrong. The point is that you can't make gross generalizations about an entire country based on your anecdotal life story.

Re: A Damning Look at the Canadian Tech Sector

#25

Post by enraged_camel »

peterarmstrong wrote: post #19
zmitri wrote: post #12

As a Canadian who has lived in NYC for 2 years, and just had to go back to Canada for 2 weeks, this is spot on. There are tons of smart Canadians due to the great education system, but Canadians in general don't appreciate success in the same way Americans do. When I quit my job to start my own thing in America, all my co-workers and friends were pumped up and excited, while many Canadians were perplexed and asked qu…

The challenge is that as a Canadian it's a lot easier to get a TN-1 or H1-B as an employee than as a founder. So the valley is full of Canadian expat employees, not founders. Hopefully some of those will return to Canada and become startup founders. (That's what I did.)

>>The challenge is that as a Canadian it's a lot easier to get a TN-1 or H1-B as an employee than as a founder.

It's the same in the US. If you're an immigrant, it's incredibly difficult (if not outright impossible) to get a work visa to work at a company you founded. There are a few "founder visa" type bills being discussed in the Congress, but all of them require the company you have founded to have a hefty revenue as well as a handful of employees. In other words, they are only for founders who are already successful.

Re: A Damning Look at the Canadian Tech Sector

#27

Post by zmitri »

bentlegen wrote: post #24
zmitri wrote: post #12

As a Canadian who has lived in NYC for 2 years, and just had to go back to Canada for 2 weeks, this is spot on. There are tons of smart Canadians due to the great education system, but Canadians in general don't appreciate success in the same way Americans do. When I quit my job to start my own thing in America, all my co-workers and friends were pumped up and excited, while many Canadians were perplexed and asked qu…

> Canadians don't appreciate success in the same way Americans do > My goal was to try and build something out of nothing and hopefully be the best in the world. Can I counter your personal anecdote about your friends not appreciating success, with your own personal story of founding a business? I grew up outside of Toronto, and I'm friends with a dozen Canadians that have founded technology companies. I wouldn't say…

Definitely fair point. There are plenty of Canadian entrepreneurs who absolutely crush it, and definitely appreciate "success".

I could have said "Building something great out of nothing and trying to be the best" is very much embedded into American folklore and culture, but not so much in Canadian.

I had a very long conversation about this with 3 generations of Canadian entrepreneurs (none of them tech mind you) and we all had a good laugh about this very topic. Again, sorry if anecdotal evidence doesn't do it for you.

Re: A Damning Look at the Canadian Tech Sector

#28

Post by zmitri »

peterarmstrong wrote: post #19
zmitri wrote: post #12

As a Canadian who has lived in NYC for 2 years, and just had to go back to Canada for 2 weeks, this is spot on. There are tons of smart Canadians due to the great education system, but Canadians in general don't appreciate success in the same way Americans do. When I quit my job to start my own thing in America, all my co-workers and friends were pumped up and excited, while many Canadians were perplexed and asked qu…

The challenge is that as a Canadian it's a lot easier to get a TN-1 or H1-B as an employee than as a founder. So the valley is full of Canadian expat employees, not founders. Hopefully some of those will return to Canada and become startup founders. (That's what I did.)

Yep. Need to have x00K in the bank to legally work for my own company.

Re: A Damning Look at the Canadian Tech Sector

#29

Post by greenyoda »

"Quick test - name the sprinter who won the 2008 100m sprint. You probably guessed Usain Bolt - which is correct. Who came second? Exactly.... Want to know why? No-one cares. This is how the world works - in business and in life."

The hugely hyped media coverage of celebrities is not really a good model for anything in the real world. We don't all buy products and services from only the largest business in any given market sector. If I'm buying a car, or cellphone service, or software, I'm certainly going to consider offerings from companies that are not the #1 company in their field.

Re: A Damning Look at the Canadian Tech Sector

#30

Post by HorizonXP »

zmitri wrote: post #12

As a Canadian who has lived in NYC for 2 years, and just had to go back to Canada for 2 weeks, this is spot on. There are tons of smart Canadians due to the great education system, but Canadians in general don't appreciate success in the same way Americans do. When I quit my job to start my own thing in America, all my co-workers and friends were pumped up and excited, while many Canadians were perplexed and asked qu…

As the founder of taab (http://taab.co), I'd have to mostly disagree. I know that I'll need some help from SF or NYC, but so far, I've received tremendous amounts of support from friends, family, colleagues, and networks here in Toronto and Waterloo.
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