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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

#71

Post by dquail »

wmoxam wrote: post #60
nasalgoat wrote: post #41

Being in Canada also means flying under the radar, which can be a good thing for long term viability of your product. My company does 100x the traffic of our nearest competitor but you'll never see a TechCrunch article about us, since we're in Toronto. So there's no pressure for overnight success and you can work diligently towards making a better product instead of meeting unreasonable expectations.

Being in Toronto has nothing to do with seeing (or not seeing) a TC article about your company. TC covers plenty of Toronto based startups, including the last two that I've worked for. Also, seeing your company on TC isn't all that useful anyways...

I think he was using techcrunch write ups as an example. In Canada, there seems to be less time spent focusing on the tech elite echo chamber ... keeping up with the startup benjamins.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#72

Post by rupertm »

derefr wrote: post #21
kevingadd wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

The same problem occurs for a Canadian with no college degree (but tons of freelance dev experience) wishing to move to SV. Anyone here know a good way to get around that? Some details: I took two years of university so far, but ran out of money to keep going. I'm now living month-to-month (averaging about "feed myself and pay rent for a room") doing severely underpaid web-app development (think ELance rates.) Appare…

Drop me a line: box2850 at hot mail com dot. We have dozens of open coding jobs in Vancouver - and none of them are ASP or C++ game dev.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#73

Post by dquail »

PixelPusher wrote: post #14
dquail wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

* 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…

There's a lot to be said 20~something entrepreneurs that don't know life before there was internet. Yes ... they're romanticized in tech blogs, and the majority of successful entrepreneurs are > 30 ... but when a young smart entrepreneur like Brian who doesn't know what the world looked like before the internet speaks ... I listen.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#74

Post by rupertm »

mmmelissa wrote: post #34

I wonder if cheaper health care costs give Canada any kind of advantage business-wise?

Absolutely they do. Employers don't have to chip in for basic insurance... that's already paid for. Employers end up taking part of that money and throwing it into extended benefits: in Vancouver I get $200 every 2 years for eyeglasses, $400/y HCSA (covers massage, acupuncture, nutritionist, etc.), $1500/y dental, fantastic Rx coverage, 1x/annual income life insurance, etc etc etc. - all of which costs the company less than what it costs the same company to provide basic insurance to their employees in the USA.

Sure, the employee pays more in income tax, but there's no lifetime maximum on claims, no 'taking a chance' and hoping you don't get sick, no gambling with your health period. For me that extra 6% I pay in income tax is well worth it.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#75

Post by softbuilder »

shmerl wrote: post #65
softbuilder wrote: post #38

s/Canada/Portland/ Our visa is easier to get. :) (if you're in the US)

Why not s/Canada/New York/ ?-)

Because I'm not in New York! :)

Also, I originally wrote it out as s/Canada/(Portland|Austin|Raleigh)/ and then felt like NYC was conspicuously left out. And further realized those other cities could post for themselves.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#76

Post by dquail »

To those complaining about raising money as a Canadian startup. Overly simplified steps: 1. Stop whining. 2. Build something awesome. 3. Spend time on angelist angel.co 4. Spend time on hipmunk.com booking your trip 5. Be thankful you're starting your company in 2013 and not before 2009 when tax laws made it painful for foreign investment, there wasn't a frothy environment in the valley, when fundraising was actually hard, when starting up was way more expensive. 6. Watch the money roll in.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#77

Post by ksar »

3pt14159 wrote: post #24
strebler wrote: post #20

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 co…

This man here speaks the truth. Without revenue, it is easier to get a $30k grant than it is to find an angel investor willing to invest for the same amount. (Source: I raised a $30k grant in about 3 meetings and 5 hours of paper work. I also spent about 6 months with two idiot "angel investors" from Ryerson Angel Network when I was young and dumb and didn't close a dime. One guy said he wanted to invest but sheepish…

The CMF is a big pot of money but to be in the running for funding you almost certainly have to hire a "consultant". There are many hoops, and they can be costly.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#78

Post by saffer »

MacsHeadroom wrote: post #37
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...

Last time you checked was probably before last December's massive overhaul of the points system (which goes into effect in 4 weeks). Hint: If you're an English speaking American with more than 5 years of work experience or a bachelors degree you have enough points- no investment fund needed. See: http://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2012/2012-08-18/html/reg2-eng....

> Hint: If you're an English speaking American with more than 5 years of work experience or a bachelors degree you have enough points

As an English speaking South-African finishing a PhD at an American university, it's good to know there are other options if the U.S. decides not to give me an H1-B (the quota was exceeded in the first week, so apparently we all get put through a lottery: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5513761)

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#79

Post by freshhawk »

dquail wrote: post #25
akg_67 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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 ha…

The great Canadian startups I know don't look incredibly highly of government programs (namely SR&ED and IRAP). They're great, but can be distracting, taking you away from building value in your startup and into filling out meaningless forms. That said, free money is free money, and I've seen successful startups (that aren't politically connected) leverage these programs without being distracted.

I don't want to get into a whole thing but as a co-founder in Vancouver getting SR&ED and IRAP support I have no idea what any of you are talking about in this comment thread.

It's remarkably little work to do the paperwork. It's annoying, sure. Who the hell likes paperwork? But a "distraction"? Oh please.

If I wasn't getting the money I would honestly be a little annoyed at how little accountability there seemed to be to get public money.

And the whole political connections thing ... I don't even know where to start with that one. I have none and no one I know has any.

I notice no one here has firsthand experience with either. I wouldn't have commented here but I felt I had to leave something here so that other readers wouldn't come away with an opinion that's ... let's say "uninformed".

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