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Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

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Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#11

Post by dquail »

PixelPusher wrote: post #9

Not 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.

* Disclaimer - I wrote the post Thanks for suggesting I look young :)

I have a hard time taking advice from young people too. Well ... until Brian Wong, schooled me during a tech conference we were both panelists for.

A lot of super smart valley entrepreneurs "bypass" what it takes to be a well rounded business person ... I guess. But I doubt that has anything to do with age, and more to do with the current frothy acquisition and funding environment.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#12

Post by ultrasaurus »

One thing that Canada has in it's favour is that for competent CS graduates, you're competing with stultifying companies rather than companies in the SF bubble. PagerDuty is one of those companies that I expect Canada would've been happy to keep, and we're loving it in SF, but we're fighting with a lot of similar companies for people.

This year, we opened up an office in Toronto, and even though our standards are the same (exact same interview process everywhere) we've had a measurably easier time attracting CS talent.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#14

Post by PixelPusher »

dquail wrote: post #11
PixelPusher wrote: post #9

Not 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.

* Disclaimer - I wrote the post Thanks for suggesting I look young :) I have a hard time taking advice from young people too. Well ... until Brian Wong, schooled me during a tech conference we were both panelists for. A lot of super smart valley entrepreneurs "bypass" what it takes to be a well rounded business person ... I guess. But I doubt that has anything to do with age, and more to do with the current frothy ac…

Thinking about it, I'm sure they can be just as good. Regardless of age. I would guess it's like anything else. Constant exposure and practicing will breed excellence. I would just be scared of all the mistakes they haven't made yet.

It's funny you mention Brian Wong, his company is a competitor of the company i work for. He's a smart guy, from what i can tell, but he would actually be one of the examples i'd use to cite lack of experience.

In software development, lack of experience can be a really big issue. For example, with lack of experience you may choose core piece of technology based on hype. coughmongodb and kiipcough

But, I digress, thanks for the article. Learned a bit about the Canadian start up eco-system.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#15

Post by bwertz »

kevingadd wrote: post #4

I'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...

@versiononevc is one of the funds that is designated for Startup Visa Canada - shoot me an email, happy to talk

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#16

Post by sabat »

dquail wrote: post #10
vecinu wrote: post #5

I 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…

Hype may be somewhat more extreme in the hustle-and-bustle environment of the Valley, but hype is always something to be wary of. It's really no less likely to happen in, say, Vancouver.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#17

Post by vecinu »

dquail wrote: post #10
vecinu wrote: post #5

I 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…

I'm glad you had a great experience visiting Toronto and experiencing the startup culture there.

I'm sure I'll see the area totally different when I return from SF and I may just find a role that I fit in very well.

I totally agree with you about the over inflated hype currently in the valley. While this leads to a lot of failed startups and 'wrong' ideas being funded, I think it's still a healthy ecosystem for promoting innovation.

Like you said in your article, shooting for the moon in Canada makes you seem insane while it's seen as commonplace in SF.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#18

Post by kevingadd »

fn wrote: post #7
kevingadd wrote: post #4

I'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...

That's incredible! Thanks for the link :)

EDIT: Bah, too bad they demand proof of secondary education. Sucks for people who couldn't afford college...

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#19

Post by akg_67 »

vecinu wrote: post #5

I 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…

"I don't see the same enthusiasm towards tech and startup in Toronto that I see here in The Valley."

Having tried establishing my startup in Toronto before, I fully agree with your statement. I know at least 6 more people who got frustrated trying to start tech companies in Toronto/Waterloo and finally gave up and moved to US/valley.

Most Canadian govt funding programs for startups (I tried) are for politicians to handout to their supporters. You need to be incredibly well-connected to overcome the barriers set to get funding.

Most people involved in startup/tech wouldn't give a chance to local startup unless there was validation from someone in US or valley. It was funny that one local VC I was trying to connect with wouldn't return my calls. One evening, when I sent him an email mentioning that I have a meeting with a NY VC next day, the guy calls me 11pm in the night wanting to know more about my startup.

Without valley/NY connections, it is incredibly difficult in Toronto for a tech startup.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#20

Post by strebler »

Rose coloured glasses. You want to startup in Canada? Either a) have access to network with money, or b) bootstrap like there's no tomorrow.

Investors in Canada have an appetite for risk somewhere in the neighbourhood of "mutual fund vs GIC" levels. For someone with Silicon Valley connections, fine it could work, but this is not good general advice.

Even iNovia, which is probably the most forward looking VC in the country, has a fairly small fund (low $100M if memory serves), I believe below the size of the average US fund.

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