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Toronto startup's booking app attracts barbershops from around the world

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Re: Toronto startup's booking app attracts barbershops from around the world

#12

With nearly 3 million in population and an energy in the air not unlike New York City, Toronto should be more of a startup scene than it is. This is the first T.O. startup I've read about for as long as I can remember.

There's a ton of established (and YC) startups in the city: Shopify, Upverter, 500px, Chango, Wattpad, XMG, Uken Games, and PagerDuty are all based here or have offices here, just to name a few.

Re: Toronto startup's booking app attracts barbershops from around the world

#13

With nearly 3 million in population and an energy in the air not unlike New York City, Toronto should be more of a startup scene than it is. This is the first T.O. startup I've read about for as long as I can remember.

I wonder why it isn't. I'm in Montreal, and startups are definitely in the air. The advantages Montreal has I can think of are:

* It's very cheap; good for getting started * A VERY high number of students per capita. At least five major universities, plus many CEGEPs * It's not near Waterloo. I imagine much Toronto talents gets sucked down to Kitchner-Waterloo. * It's the center for French talent. English talent in Toronto has other places to go, if it wants.

Re: Toronto startup's booking app attracts barbershops from around the world

#14
post #12

With nearly 3 million in population and an energy in the air not unlike New York City, Toronto should be more of a startup scene than it is. This is the first T.O. startup I've read about for as long as I can remember.

There's a ton of established (and YC) startups in the city: Shopify, Upverter, 500px, Chango, Wattpad, XMG, Uken Games, and PagerDuty are all based here or have offices here, just to name a few.

Does Shopify have a Toronto office now? FreshBooks is a Toronto staple as well

Re: Toronto startup's booking app attracts barbershops from around the world

#15
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a ton of established (and YC) startups in the city: Shopify, Upverter, 500px, Chango, Wattpad, XMG, Uken Games, and PagerDuty are all based here or have offices here, just to name a few.

Does Shopify have a Toronto office now? FreshBooks is a Toronto staple as well

Yes Shopify has a Toronto office after their acquisition of Jet Cooper: http://www.jetcooper.com/

Re: Toronto startup's booking app attracts barbershops from around the world

#16
post #12

With nearly 3 million in population and an energy in the air not unlike New York City, Toronto should be more of a startup scene than it is. This is the first T.O. startup I've read about for as long as I can remember.

There's a ton of established (and YC) startups in the city: Shopify, Upverter, 500px, Chango, Wattpad, XMG, Uken Games, and PagerDuty are all based here or have offices here, just to name a few.

Don't forget about the MaRS Discovery District and all the awesome startups there!

http://www.marsdd.com/

Re: Toronto startup's booking app attracts barbershops from around the world

#17
post #8
post #5

I love how they narrowed their focus to barbershops. One of the hardest parts of many startups is finding and staying focused on the right niche.

Barbershops appear to be their main niche, but they do have a similar focus on others. From their page. Resurva for Barbershops Resurva for Room Booking Resurva for Conferences Resurva for Salons Resurva for Spas Resurva for Massage Therapists

I hope soon, it will be Resurva for dentists and doctors.

Re: Toronto startup's booking app attracts barbershops from around the world

#18
post #17
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Barbershops appear to be their main niche, but they do have a similar focus on others. From their page. Resurva for Barbershops Resurva for Room Booking Resurva for Conferences Resurva for Salons Resurva for Spas Resurva for Massage Therapists

I hope soon, it will be Resurva for dentists and doctors.

Maybe they will call it Zocdoc.

Re: Toronto startup's booking app attracts barbershops from around the world

#19

With nearly 3 million in population and an energy in the air not unlike New York City, Toronto should be more of a startup scene than it is. This is the first T.O. startup I've read about for as long as I can remember.

Capital is virtually non-existent compared to Silicon Valley or even New York City. That's the #1 issue faced by startups in Canada.

Re: Toronto startup's booking app attracts barbershops from around the world

#20

Interesting, it's probably the type of software I would build and enjoy building. I never thought the market could be so niche to barbers though, guess that trend hasn't made it t'up North of UK Ironically the website does not work on mobile.

In the UK the main difference to me between a barbershop and a salon is for the former you don't need to book.

Personally I despise making appointments. I'd much rather think at lunch 'oh my hairs getting a bit long', head to the babershop, wait 10 minutes and get it done.

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