Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

techvibes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 111 posts

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#81

Post by wisty »

rupertm wrote: post #74
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 le…

Also, everyone pays the same price (through taxes), so big companies don't get any advantage from their stronger negotiating power.

OK, there's also private insurance (for stuff like dental, and private hospitals). But since companies aren't expected to pay it, it's more competitive.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#82

Post by thisisnotatest »

The author says he chose to start his company in Canada because, "In the Bay Area, investors, friends, and early adopters are so embracing and supportive of new ideas," and this can actually have bad consequences. It's an interesting notion. I have no startup experience, so maybe this is a dumb question, but isn't the solution just, "Take what investors, friends, and early adopters say with a grain of salt"?

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#83

Post by SilconValleyVC »

As a VC in Silicon Valley I have tremendous respect for the Valley, but I must say (having formerly lived in LA) it sometimes feels like a 1 industry town. In L.A. every and his brother "had a screenplay." "Oh man, can you read my screen play? We're looking to raise a million for this indie film." In Silicon Valley say you're a VC and my lord the way people change, from talking to you casually to looking at you like an addict and you're a bag of heroine they desperately need.

Startups CAN actually survive and meet early milestones without us VCs you know. In Canada I'll bet it would be refreshing to "have" to meet those early milestones without being made to feel like a failure just because you're not already "funded." "Are you funded? Yeah, by who?" "You're not funded? Oh bummer." (Person walks away.)

So eventually a Canadian entrepreneur may need/want to move to Silicon Valley, but I'll bet they learn alot - and find it alot more refreshing - to start out at first without the non stop "you got a screenplay? you got an agent?" equivalent I see and hear every day and every hour in Silicon Valley.

We VCs aren't the be all end all.

Happy to take any questions from entrepreneurs.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#84

Post by stormbrew »

softbuilder wrote: post #75
shmerl wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Also you'd confuse sed, it would have no idea which one to replace with. ;)

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#85

Post by MacsHeadroom »

saffer wrote: post #78
MacsHeadroom wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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/i…

Canadian residents are covered by universal healthcare, can vote, can work, etc. (That's a lot more than the U.S. offers residents.)

You need 67 points to get residency status in Canada.

With the new system:

PhD? 25 Points

Speak English? 24 Points

Under 35? 12 points (less 1 point per year over 35)

1 Year of work experience? 9 points

Total: 70 points

There are a lot more ways you can get points. But if you're a young or middle aged English speaker with a degree or a few years of job experience, you're in.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#86

Post by schiang »

dquail wrote: post #62
schiang wrote: post #56

> At the end of the day, my advice to Canadian startups is to stay in Canada I think this can apply to many cities outside of the silicon valley bubble.

Yup, you're essentially right (I wrote the post). The gist of the article really could have been "Why you should start your startup outside of the valley" ... but choosing Canada has a few specific advantages I never really delved into with this post ...

I agree with so much of what you said in your article. I'm trying to make it in LA for a lot of the same reasons why you're working in Canada.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#87

Post by x711li_yc »

spitfire wrote: post #69
dquail wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I run an internship program placing Canadian interns in the valley, and have interviewed plenty of students from US schools. There's some amazing students coming out of Waterloo and UBC in particular. Waterloo grads are as competent and hungry as grads from MIT or Stanford. I've been amazed with them.

You should have spoken to them pre-2001 then. Waterloo dumbed down the first two years to be "more industry focused".[1] Waterloo has been founding great companies for decades - the Watcom compiler came out of there in the 80's and 90's. 1. A quote from a friend who did his PhD there during the period.

I'm sorry, but are you claiming that the education has been dumbed down post-2001? As a computer science student that witnessed the shift in education, I can assure you that the system has only increased the level of breadth and depth (and therefore academic difficulty) since the pre-2001 period.

Before 2001, Waterloo Computer Science offered Java courses and taught "more industry focused" material. Ever since, with the aid of a certain PhD here, the curriculum teaches functional programming (via Racket) from the start and carries its focus over the entirety of first year.

Following this, the second year courses are standard at any university and act as precursors to the third year Operating Systems and Algorithms courses, the most difficult required CS courses offered here.

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#88

Post by softbuilder »

stormbrew wrote: post #84
softbuilder wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Also you'd confuse sed, it would have no idea which one to replace with. ;)

That's true, I was taking literary license with sed. :)

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#89

Post by fn »

MacsHeadroom wrote: post #85
saffer wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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/i…

Canadian residents are covered by universal healthcare, can vote, can work, etc. (That's a lot more than the U.S. offers residents.) You need 67 points to get residency status in Canada. With the new system: PhD? 25 Points Speak English? 24 Points Under 35? 12 points (less 1 point per year over 35) 1 Year of work experience? 9 points Total: 70 points There are a lot more ways you can get points. But if you're a young…

Anyone know how long the entire process takes -- from sending in the application, all the way to being able to cross the border with a moving van -- using the points system?

Re: Why Startups Should Choose Canada Over Silicon Valley

#90

Post by graeham »

jsingleton wrote: post #22
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…

Agreed. A lot of people seem to be mentioning Toronto (never been) but can anyone comment on the tech/startup scene in Vancouver (loved it but it seems very small)?

The Vancouver scene is small but close-knit and growing. The core of it is based in Gastown, within about a 3 block radius of GrowLabs, one of the bigger incubators there. There is great talent without Silicon Valley salaries and a few active angels, but I think its harder to raise bigger rounds, at least locally. This will improve when Hootsuite or another local company has a big exit or IPO, and the government is trying to inject money into venture capital.

The good news is SFO is only a two hour flight, and Seattle about that far by car. I think raise in the USA, build in Canada is a great strategy, and quite a few of the successful start-ups raise from both Canada and the US.

There is starting to be a bigger start-up culture. Its not like SF and area where it seems like everyone is doing a start-up, but it is now something that a lot of young people are thinking about and is seen as a respectable way to spend your time.

There are good government programs in Canada, but my limited experience is they aren't what you want to bank on if you are a small, vulnerable start-up. I think where they do come into benefit is in growing from a 5->50+ person outfit.

Vancouver also has a good brand for the right kind of company. Its definitely a lifestyle city (great place to live, but lots of distractions from 24/7 work) - and would be a great place for health/fitness/outdoor activity start-ups because of that. There is a kinda cool video about the Vancouver tech scene from a few years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLQQ3w12Juc

Post reply on HN