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Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

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11–20 of 229 posts

Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#11

What bothers me about these articles is that they lay out all these reasons for why a place will be great, or is a great place to start a company, but then why -- in spite of these assets -- does that place not produce like Silicon Valley? I am not saying Toronto is not a great city to live and work and start a business. But if it has all these things going for it, why isn't it producing startup value per capita like…

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Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#12
This article reads like someone who doesn't give 2 shits about Canada decided to crack open wikipedia.

> but many countries of similar stature — G7 nations, for example — dismiss the Great White North as nothing more than America’s top hat

Canada is one of the G7 nations. Or did you mean the other 6 don't care about Canada?

Can you please just not bother writing about my country anymore.

Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#13
post #10

The startup scene here in Vancouver is scrappy but really shouldn't be compared to SV in any way, it's just not a fair comparison. We are, however, woefully under-represented with experienced seed stage investors, as the author states. The few that are here have abandoned seed and pre seed and are exclusively VC, mid to late round investors. Can't blame them, either, as the wins are still few and far between. Vancity…

It's not just money. You need the backing of movers and shakers who know doors to knock, open, and barge through.

Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#15

What bothers me about these articles is that they lay out all these reasons for why a place will be great, or is a great place to start a company, but then why -- in spite of these assets -- does that place not produce like Silicon Valley? I am not saying Toronto is not a great city to live and work and start a business. But if it has all these things going for it, why isn't it producing startup value per capita like…

[deleted]

Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#16
post #9
post #2

Favorite quote: Vancouver is found in British Columbia (BC), amongst the Rocky Mountains on Canada’s west coast. Yah. Excellent.

To be fair, there are mountains and they're pretty rocky :-)

Totally fair.

And speaking of rocks, the hike up the Yosemite Half Dome, just an hour by car from downtown Vancouver is really nice.

https://www.google.ca/search?tbm=isch&q=stawamus+chief

Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#17
I saw a poster in my business school building (in the midwest) about "Silicon Plains." Honestly, it'd be so cool if there really were more tech hubs, but the degree of wishful thinking can be almost painful.

I'm not suggesting by this that Vancouver isn't an up-and-coming startup center. Just commenting on the extreme desire I see all around to be like SV.

Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#18
" Similarly, sub-zero temperatures scare people to warmer areas, leading to a brain drain and serious demand for startup-orientated marketers."

Living in one of the cities, sub-zero might have an impact but I don't think it's the brain drain main reason. For aspiring founder, I think it's more related to insufficient founding. For engineers, I think the very low salaries is more to blame. Even if cost of living is a bit lower, the difference makes no sense at all.

Re: Canada is North America’s up-and-coming startup center

#19
post #18

" Similarly, sub-zero temperatures scare people to warmer areas, leading to a brain drain and serious demand for startup-orientated marketers." Living in one of the cities, sub-zero might have an impact but I don't think it's the brain drain main reason. For aspiring founder, I think it's more related to insufficient founding. For engineers, I think the very low salaries is more to blame. Even if cost of living is a…

It's hard to do a proper comparison of costs unless you're young and single. Consider medical costs (usually, but not always covered by your US employer), and family-related costs (school for kids is the biggest I can think of: private schools and private universities being more expensive in the US).
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