Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley
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Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley
#2a few points that were missed:
-servers stay nice and cool naturally
-don't need to worry aboot hackers since the mounties always get their man
-ice blocks can be used as inexpensive construction materials
-cheap third world labor readily available in canadian cities
it's not all perfect though - for example, you need to watch that beavers don't chew through your network cables
Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley
#3To be clear, this is specifically aimed at telling Canadian startups to stay in Canada. YMMV.
Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley
#4I'd love to choose Canada, but the last time I looked at the immigration 'points' system, they only want me if I have $500k+ USD worth of money to invest in the country (hah, as if I'd need to move if I did) or I'm a fluent French speaker...
Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley
#5I have a few problems with this article, namely the comparisons drawn between The Valley and Canada.
I am currently a Canadian citizen, working in San Francisco at a company that moved from Vancouver many years ago.
The author seems to be comparing the Bay Area to the entirety of Canada. Canada is not a small area, a city or a state. It is an entire 'continent' spanning multiple provinces with very different laws and dynamics. A startup in Waterloo, Ontario targeted towards engineering may fare better than one founded in Vancouver.
Secondly, he is mentioning his connections in the Bay Area that have helped him succeed in Canada. First he is arguing FOR founding a startup in Canada but then admits that most of his barriers to entry were lifted with help from the valley. There is a difference when you're starting fresh in Waterloo without any outside help.
I think what the author should have done is draw a parallel between The Valley and somewhere in Canada (Waterloo, Vancouver, Montreal, etc...). One may not be better than the other but perhaps working WITH The Valley can help get your startup off the ground elsewhere.
I would personally love to work for a startup back home in Toronto and perhaps one day found my own but I don't see the same enthusiasm towards tech and startup in Toronto that I see here in The Valley.
Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley
#6Yeah no.
Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley
#7I'd love to choose Canada, but the last time I looked at the immigration 'points' system, they only want me if I have $500k+ USD worth of money to invest in the country (hah, as if I'd need to move if I did) or I'm a fluent French speaker...
Enter the Canada Startup Visa, released last week:
http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/02/silicon-valley-north-canad...
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/business/start-up/ind...
Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley
#8A good direction seems to be Waterloo/Velocity->YC->Seed round->Main office in Canada
There's a ton of advantages of having your main office in Canada, but there are many disadvantages as well. Seed round pretty much has to be done in SV as Canadian investors are notoriously cheap and horrible [1]. So you get your seed money in SV and then work for cheap in Canada.
The downside is that not having "close" communication with your investors may impact follow-on financing, though that remains to be seen. Also, for certain types of companies being surrounded by a bunch of other startups can be very useful.
No matter what, if you're going to be in the tech industry it's usually a good thing to have some contacts and relationships in the valley. If you're a first time founder then doing everything from Canada is going to be difficult. If you've been around the block a few times, then the downsides aren't so bad, and the upsides are major.
[1] Unconfirmed, but I heard a stat recently that BDC takes controlling interest in 75% of their pre-Series A deals.
Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley
#9Not to be mean, but the author looks really young.
Maybe I'm getting old, but I find it really hard to take advice from such young people. My personal take is that they're bypassing a lot of the experience it takes to make a well rounded business person.
I personally feel like a douche trying to give advice to other people, particularly people older than me.
Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley
#10I have a few problems with this article, namely the comparisons drawn between The Valley and Canada. I am currently a Canadian citizen, working in San Francisco at a company that moved from Vancouver many years ago. The author seems to be comparing the Bay Area to the entirety of Canada. Canada is not a small area, a city or a state. It is an entire 'continent' spanning multiple provinces with very different laws and…
* Disclaimer - I wrote this post.
Totally agree, Canada is incredibly diverse so this article is a bit overgeneralizing. Starting in Waterloo / Toronto / Vancouver / is night and day to Winnipeg (nothing against winnipeg).
The main take away is to be wary of the hype in the valley. That pervades the culture. Everyone from investors to your family fill you up with hype. You don't get that in Canada. You've gotta fight harder. That, in my opinion, isn't a bad thing. You can go much further on a dumb idea in the valley. *and yes I know that some of the best startups were once dumb ideas. But I don't believe the "valley" made them succeed. I think there's more companies that die because of false positives than companies that succeed in spite of not having them.
And yes. I readily admit that you need connections in the valley. I wouldn't be starting in Canada if I didn't already have a killer bay area network.
BTW. I toured Toronto not that long ago and visited Extreme(s) as well as a few other startups. I was blown away by the quality of stuff being built there and Waterloo. I'd not hesitate to start or join something there. There's real energy in that city ... and it's growing.