41–50 of 54 posts
The Canadian tech sector has been getting hammered for quite a while. First there was the Nortel collapse, then ATI was acquired by AMD, RIM is slowly but surely sliding towards oblivion. Shopify is the only bright spot in Canadian Tech.
The Canadian tech sector has been getting hammered for quite a while. First there was the Nortel collapse, then ATI was acquired by AMD, RIM is slowly but surely sliding towards oblivion. Shopify is the only bright spot in Canadian Tech.
Cognos (IBM), Changepoint (Compuware), Workbrain (Infor), Flickr (Yahoo!), Dundas (Microsoft), Opalis (Microsoft), Kobo (Rakuten), Alias (Autodesk)... etc, etc.
And then there's also the likes of 500px, Cirba, etc.
Personally, as a Canadian in the consumer-and-internet-software sector ("tech sector" to HN), the constant comparisons to the equivalent U.S. sector appear far more annoying than the state of our sector. Nobody else does it with as much frequency as we seem to. Much of the discussion simply consists of pointing out and explaining in depth differences between the two sectors. It feels worse than the constant internet…
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…
I'm an American going to school in Canada, studying computer science. Before I started, I was so excited about all the people I was going to meet that would be interested in pursuing tons of computing projects outside of class. It's three years later now, and I've found a total of two guys that share the same interest in creating something from nothing, and putting it out there for the world to see. People aren't tot…
These are the kids who never really learn how to program (there aren't nearly enough classroom hours in a 4 year degree to turn you into a competent coder; building your own side projects is a necessity). These are the kids who give rise to all the complaints about Why Johnny Can't Code, and why academia doesn't prepare people for industry. These are the kids who make up the bulk of the anecdotes about people interviewing 10 candidates for a programming position and finding out that only 1 of them could actually program at even a novice level.
It doesn't really have anything to do with being in Canada.
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…
Maybe part of the problem is that a lot of our tech talent ends up going down to where the money is instead of staying in Canada?
It would be interesting to see how many students from Waterloo and UofT alone, leave Canada to go work in the tech industry in the US.
Most of the people in my year have gone down when they can for co-op.
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…
Regarding visa issues: Do you mean to suggest that Canadians should just move to SF and then figure out how to get a visa later?
I just didn't think it was worth waiting for a greencard. I was on an H1B for a year, and realized I'd have to wait 5 more years for a greencard.
Now I look back and just think it was a mental road block (a big one albeit it).
Canada is great, but easier access to capital in America.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm an American going to school in Canada, studying computer science. Before I started, I was so excited about all the people I was going to meet that would be interested in pursuing tons of computing projects outside of class. It's three years later now, and I've found a total of two guys that share the same interest in creating something from nothing, and putting it out there for the world to see. People aren't tot…
Almost any comp sci program, on either side of the border, is going to have a lot of dead-weight students who just want to put in the classroom hours and would never dream of programming on the side. These are the kids who never really learn how to program (there aren't nearly enough classroom hours in a 4 year degree to turn you into a competent coder; building your own side projects is a necessity). These are the k…
So yes, my frustration is not with Canadian students, but with students in general.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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…
In all this, there is some sense that we (as Canadians) are fundamentally different than our American friends. I do agree (it's just a feeling) that these perceived differences are holding us back in many ways.
Could this be culture? Could this be our more left-leaning ideologies? Could there be some small thinking involved?
As a Canadian who was invited to partake in the American workforce more than once but decided on staying here - I believe Canada has more to offer than America.