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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

#101

Post by plankers »

Interesting analysis of the differences between the two scenes, but I'm not convinced of Danco's assertion that bad angels keep away the good. It seems equally possible that the attractive draw for angels (and all VCs) of a red-hot scene like SF is simply too powerful, so all the "good" angels flock there rather than waste their time in a less productive market.

The same phenomenon he describes where liquidity events propagate the cycle of early movers becoming angels could easily take place on a larger scale where an exodus of "good" angels from SF seeking value in other markets disseminates this model and evens it out a bit. This could also dampen some of the externalities created by this feverish form of capitalism i.e. ludicrous real estate prices, crushing income inequality, etc.

Of course this would take some rather weighty exogenous event taking place to make either SF or the US unattractive locations to start a business.

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#102

Post by raverbashing »

MartianSquirrel wrote: post #35

Disclaimer: Clearly biased, I am from Montreal. > That’s part of why I think that if any city in Canada has the potential to actually develop a Bay Area grade startup scene (smaller, sure, but actually the real thing), it’s clearly Montreal I would have to agree with the conclusion of this article, Montreal has: (i) 5 universities very close to each other(i.e. 10 to 20 minutes walk from each other) + Great public tra…

Personal experience: the part you're missing is that Quebec looks down on anyone that's not from QC, maybe from the ROC, maybe from the US and maaaybe if they're from France (et oui, je suis francophone)

For each job offer I had from QC I had 3 or 4 from Toronto (which had other problems as well to be fair)

Also, Canadian startup environment is... weird? A lot of business models were castles in the air to be honest.

> 5 universities very close to each other(i.e. 10 to 20 minutes walk from each other)

Except, you know, for that minor hill between them... ;)

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#105

Post by Dan42 »

> If Montreal weren’t in Quebec, it would be an unstoppable startup scene.

I'm really puzzled by that statement. I don't see Quebec as having anything particularly different from other provinces that is harmful to startups. French? Everybody in Montreal speaks English anyway, and developing i18n software is super-trivial if you do it from the start; not something that would impact startup velocity in any meaningful way.

Or was this meant the other way around? That Quebec founders are disadvantaged in the same way that black and female founders are disadvantaged in SV?

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#106

Post by jariel »

mdtusz wrote: post #43

I know many will disagree, but I think the commentary on SR&ED killing momentum and motivation in startups is bang on, even though it's a nearly impossible thing to measure or quantify. I'm sure many fellow Canadians reading this comment can relate to the absolute draining feeling when you see that message "remember to update your SR&ED timesheets by the end of the week!". Time tracking isn't inherently bad, or count…

That's nice, but it doesn't explain why SR&ED is bad.

If the reporting was crazy burdensome - ok - but that doesn't seem to be the case.

The article makes the impression that it's more like a 'welfar trap' type scenario.

In my view, it's just not relevant, the money just doesn't matter that much. Good projects tend to get funded.

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#107

Post by DeRock »

dismalpedigree wrote: post #87
danlugo92 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Who can blame anyone with 'no ties' to Canada moving on for 2x salary? Does that salary increase make up for the lost gov benefits (free healthcate etc?)

When the new employer is likely footing 90%+ of the bill (pretty standard in skilled professional jobs) then the answer is a clear yes. 100k CAD = ~$78k. Somebody making 100k CAD is likely commanding 110-120k USD at a minimum in the US. CAD equivalent is 140-153k CAD. Knock off $2k for healthcare out of pocket. Don’t forget the significantly lower tax burden. The worker cones out significantly ahead.

> Don’t forget the significantly lower tax burden

Very dependent on where you work. High tech salaries are concentrated in California, where the tax burden at your numbers will be higher than most provinces. I remember doing a comparison of BC to California, and the cross over point was about $250k USD (where taxes become more favorable in California).

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#108

Post by MattGaiser »

mdtusz wrote: post #43

I know many will disagree, but I think the commentary on SR&ED killing momentum and motivation in startups is bang on, even though it's a nearly impossible thing to measure or quantify. I'm sure many fellow Canadians reading this comment can relate to the absolute draining feeling when you see that message "remember to update your SR&ED timesheets by the end of the week!". Time tracking isn't inherently bad, or count…

And all the time wasted on SR&ED. My manager is constantly pulled away to fill out some document to do with it.

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#109

Post by MattGaiser »

jariel wrote: post #71
MartianSquirrel wrote: post #35

Disclaimer: Clearly biased, I am from Montreal. > That’s part of why I think that if any city in Canada has the potential to actually develop a Bay Area grade startup scene (smaller, sure, but actually the real thing), it’s clearly Montreal I would have to agree with the conclusion of this article, Montreal has: (i) 5 universities very close to each other(i.e. 10 to 20 minutes walk from each other) + Great public tra…

Those are all inputs, which are nice, but the outputs which we care about, are negligible. Where are the exceptional companies employing a lot of people, doing 'important' or 'impactfull' things? Or the exits? Or even externalized value creation? Edit: I will give an interesting answer to my own equation and that is Element AI. A ridiculous concept from a startup perspective, but very rational regional investment arg…

What did you not like about Element AI's model? I have no idea what it was really, I am just curious.

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#110

Post by gabbo »

srtjstjsj wrote: post #100
freeone3000 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't you, comparatively? It's not like your quality of work changed, it's solely location-based.

Purchasing Power Parity. The raise could end up entirely going to rent and healthcare

Quite frankly the "all your money will go to healthcare" meme doesn't really apply to the kind of person who's leaving Canada for a much high-paying US tech job. A person like that will in all likelihood be working for an employer that offers access to equal or _better_ health insurance than they would have access to in Canada. If it's a big tech company the employer will pay virtually all of the premiums beyond some token amount, and out-of-pocket maximums are dramatically lower than the incremental pay raise. And even if the employer didn't pay that, the premiums would still be dwarfed by the pay raise.

Rent is certainly higher in the Bay Area, though less higher now vs. a year ago, and even so, at the income levels we're talking here (especially if going to FAANG or a unicorn), there is very little chance you'll end up with less disposable income after rent and health care.

If you want to buy a property, you have your work cut out for you since real estate is insanely expensive, though. It's not too hard if you're a dual-income high earner couple but very hard otherwise and will take a number of years of savings. This is worse than the Vancouver/Toronto housing markets, but it's less worse than you think given how crazy they are now.

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