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How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

alexdanco.com

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Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#11

Post by guyzero »

guyzero wrote: post #7

IMO the conclusion isn't that the scene "doesn't work" but that it's not producing a lot of "moon shots" and tends to focus on "roof shots". There is nothing inherently wrong with this strategy and it produces solid gains over time, but it's a lot harder going to accidentally create a billion dollar company. That said, Solect got acquired for 1.5B back 20 years ago, Shopify exists, it's not like there are zero Canadi…

That said, this article: https://betakit.com/narwhal-list-2020-tracks-a-year-of-massi...

seems to think Canada is on track to produce a lot of unicorns in the next few years. Seems like pretty good work for a country 1/10th the size of the US.

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#12

Post by neom »

One thing this article seems to miss is that the tech scene in Canada isn't the same as the tech scene in America because Canadian capitalism and ideals are vastly different than Americas. I'm a 6th generation Canadian who left and went to NYC to build tech companies, much to the dismay of my parents who continually asked "why are you so interested in getting above everyone else?". While I agree with a lot of what the author said, I think that the Canadian tech scene doesn't jive yet because Canadians haven't really embraced ruthless capitalism fully.

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#13

Post by deepspace »

As someone who has worked in the Canadian tech scene for 25 years, and rode two startups all the way to exit (i.e. acquisition by US companies), in my opinion the problem has nothing to do with exit mindset, good angels, bad angels or SRED.

It is all about talent retention. Up until early 2000, Canadian tech salaries at least somewhat kept pace with US salaries, albeit 20-30% lower.

After the dot com crash, however, for some god-forsaken reason, the surviving tech companies decided that keeping salaries low was the new path to profitability. Every year the HR departments in Vancouver and Toronto do a hush-hush survey among each other and fix their salaries to the exact same level - maybe 2% but usually closer to 1% higher than the previous year.

The result of 20 years of this is that Canadian tech salaries have fallen ridiculously behind those of US companies, resulting in a massive brain drain to the south.

Now that Amazon, Microsoft and Google are setting up shop right here in Canada, the talent drain away from Canadian companies is only accelerating.

I have no idea what it will take to make companies realize that long term success requires retention of top talent and that that in turn requires paying competitive salaries.

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#14

Post by pySSK »

This is poorly written. I lost interest a minute into the article and skimmed the rest of it and didn't take much from it. The blob before the first subheading just repeats that the Toronto scene is not a good one – this could have taken just 3-5 sentences, and not 5 paragraphs. The part about good/bad angels, finite/infinite game typically would have been interesting to me but I was asleep by then. I recommend putting a summary in the first blob, and/or making the subheadings more informative e.g. instead of "Angels" "Deal Speed and Founder Leverage", should say "Angels are Shortsighted and Play Finite Games" and "Deal Speeds are Magnitudes Slower".

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#15

Post by DaiPlusPlus »

deepspace wrote: post #13

As someone who has worked in the Canadian tech scene for 25 years, and rode two startups all the way to exit (i.e. acquisition by US companies), in my opinion the problem has nothing to do with exit mindset, good angels, bad angels or SRED. It is all about talent retention. Up until early 2000, Canadian tech salaries at least somewhat kept pace with US salaries, albeit 20-30% lower. After the dot com crash, however,…

> Every year the HR departments in Vancouver and Toronto do a hush-hush survey among each other and fix their salaries to the exact same level - maybe 2% but usually closer to 1% higher than the previous year.

Collusion like that would almost certainly be illegal - do you have a source for that?

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#16

Post by dismayedjim »

DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #15
deepspace wrote: post #13

As someone who has worked in the Canadian tech scene for 25 years, and rode two startups all the way to exit (i.e. acquisition by US companies), in my opinion the problem has nothing to do with exit mindset, good angels, bad angels or SRED. It is all about talent retention. Up until early 2000, Canadian tech salaries at least somewhat kept pace with US salaries, albeit 20-30% lower. After the dot com crash, however,…

> Every year the HR departments in Vancouver and Toronto do a hush-hush survey among each other and fix their salaries to the exact same level - maybe 2% but usually closer to 1% higher than the previous year. Collusion like that would almost certainly be illegal - do you have a source for that?

It is but it happens all the time. Google, Facebook, Amazon, and the rest all have been caught doing it on a large scale. Most of them even agreed not to hire from each others employee pool.

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#17

Post by adverbly »

Some nuggets here.

Totally agree with the second order effects of incentives and milestones.

The author seems a bit overly enamored by SV though. It's really not all its cracked up to be. Stop trying to be SV. SV has produced some truly toxic companies. The world can do much better, but they wont do it by copying what works in SV. I think Canada should just experiment more. Try different things. Have the courage to forge your own path.

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#20

Post by DanHulton »

deepspace wrote: post #13

As someone who has worked in the Canadian tech scene for 25 years, and rode two startups all the way to exit (i.e. acquisition by US companies), in my opinion the problem has nothing to do with exit mindset, good angels, bad angels or SRED. It is all about talent retention. Up until early 2000, Canadian tech salaries at least somewhat kept pace with US salaries, albeit 20-30% lower. After the dot com crash, however,…

Literally just left a really enjoyable job with a Toronto company for a California company that pays 50% more. This is completely correct.
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