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Canada’s vanishing tech sector

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Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#111

Post by khuey »

xal wrote: post #64
redthrowaway wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a big fan of shopify, so don't take this the wrong way, but would you really be a good fit for someone with a baby and a mortgage? Currently, he's making decent money, with great pension and benefits, doing incredibly boring work. He could leave all that behind and work for shopify, for what? A couple fun years of lower total compensation without the security? As someone who's finishing up college, I'd hop on tha…

Ok this is super difficult to answer because you only gave me circumstantial information instead of data that I need to make a recommendation. The questions that need answering are: * How high is the individuals potential on an absolute scale? * Is the current environment providing a steady way to reach this high potential in a reasonable time frame? If the answer is something like "high,no" then it seems to me that…

You explicitly pay people more money if they have kids? That's interesting ... I've never heard that one before.

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#112

Post by khuey »

dmix wrote: post #2

If the United States passes the startup visa act, it would be vanishing much quicker. I'd most certainly be in line to apply.

Good news for Canada then. The odds of the US coming up with a rational immigration policy are pretty low.

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#113

Post by natrius »

jaems33 wrote: post #67
potatolicious wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "The pay in Silicon Valley was maybe 25-50% higher than Toronto/Montreal/Waterloo and the weather didn't suck." I live in SF currently, and recently accepted another job in NYC. Apples to apples, the pay in SF/SV is easily 100% higher than Toronto right now. The gap is even higher in NYC (150%+), though of course, cost of living is going to eat up most of that. With the bubble heating up even more right now, I know…

"There is simply no reason to go back - critical mass of talented, dedicated people. Interesting work. Ludicrous sums of money." For a while, I had trouble working because of health issues so I decided to work part-time while getting medicated and going through physio. Much harder to do that in the U.S. without a sort of group insurance. The cost of subscribing to an individual plan with my condition would probably b…

Once 2014 comes around, that won't be an issue in the U.S. anymore.

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#114

Post by dkubb »

CountHackulus wrote: post #77
dkubb wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IME the remaining skilled engineers want to work remotely. The last 8 years I've worked almost exclusively for US based businesses as a remote contractor. It's the best of both worlds, I can charge competitive rates but have a relatively overall lower cost of living and access to free healthcare. Taxes are higher in Canada, but it works out that I'm way ahead than if I lived in SF or NY. The downside is that I occasi…

That's interesting, I've always wanted to do something like that and never really figured out how. Mind giving details? Or if you'd rather not do it here, just send me an email, it's my username at gmail.

I don't mind talking about it here. I've worked solo for a number of years after leaving a stable full time job. I did a lot of open source work and through the community I've come in contact with a group of devs who work together on client projects.

The people running the coop are responsible for finding us the new contracts, and they add something on top while I get to charge decent rates. I know I could probably market myself and earn the same thing without the middleman, but I don't have to worry about keeping the pipeline full, billing, negotiations, etc.. having someone else handle that frees me up to focus on development.

The nice thing about this arrangement is that since we're a team we can work on larger projects than I would otherwise be able to bid on myself. Instead of having to juggle 5 or 10 projects to fill all my billable hours in a month, I can easily do it with just a couple. I'm also able to go much deeper and work on 6-12 month contracts, rather than doing short, trivial projects.

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#115

Post by gaius »

khuey wrote: post #111
xal wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok this is super difficult to answer because you only gave me circumstantial information instead of data that I need to make a recommendation. The questions that need answering are: * How high is the individuals potential on an absolute scale? * Is the current environment providing a steady way to reach this high potential in a reasonable time frame? If the answer is something like "high,no" then it seems to me that…

You explicitly pay people more money if they have kids? That's interesting ... I've never heard that one before.

Sounds like discrimination to me. Companies should reward productivity not fertility.

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#116

Post by gawker »

edwinnathaniel wrote: post #73
swalberg wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about working conditions at Shopify but I don't think the same mindset exists in Canada about working yourself into the ground for your startup. I work for another startup - Wave Accounting. I left a fairly safe, well paying job to come here. I'm paid well, my work-life balance is great, and I love my work. And I have 3 kids and a wife who is in grad school (paying off my mortgage early helped with the d…

When you're young and feeling a bit adventurous or idealist, sure, make mistakes and try different things. Keep in mind that the parent (top) said he's working in government, that's top-notch benefit that you can't get anywhere else. If startups can offer the same level of pay and benefit, even with risk, people will flock to startups. Having said that, there's one more scenario that I've seen people prefer to choose…

I definitely see the appeal to that. Having some free time to work on whatever you want or even not to work at all is crucial and it just doesn't make sense for someone who has 3 kids and mortgage to pour all their time into startups.

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#117

Post by taigeair »

I've just moved back to SF bay after 8 years and am looking for a job. I realized there are so many Canadians here! Almost all from waterloo too.

I was thinking of going back to Toronto where I went to university and have a network but it doesn't seem very promising.

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#118

Post by infinite8s »

khuey wrote: post #111
xal wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok this is super difficult to answer because you only gave me circumstantial information instead of data that I need to make a recommendation. The questions that need answering are: * How high is the individuals potential on an absolute scale? * Is the current environment providing a steady way to reach this high potential in a reasonable time frame? If the answer is something like "high,no" then it seems to me that…

You explicitly pay people more money if they have kids? That's interesting ... I've never heard that one before.

Any company that covers the premium for a family health plan is paying 'more' for employees with families.

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#119

Post by mock »

Sukotto wrote: post #75

Many non-tech friends/family have told me that Victoria BC has a booming tech industry (esp in gaming). Can anyone confirm that for me ? I haven't found very much online about it so feel a bit doubtful. I'm Canadian and moving back to Victoria next month from NY. The current plan is to push hard on a small service business for the airline industry (so I'm not in a hurry to find a new job). Even so, I've been away for…

I live and work in Victoria, and have for the past 5 years. I currently work for a company that is hiring, and know of several others that are as well. Booming is, of course, relative, and probably refers to the difficulty everyone has finding talented devs (and wages are starting to rise due to that), rather than a direct comparison to the number of companies or size of the market. It's definitely not comparable to Seattle, or even Vancouver (and certainly not SV).

Wages aren't exactly the greatest, expenses aren't exactly the lowest - and there's a real lack of depth in both talent and places to work. On the other hand, there are plenty of people doing start ups because they don't want to leave - you just have to know where to look.

(also, sent you an email)

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#120

Post by fingerprinter »

tatsuke95 wrote: post #101
fingerprinter wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm an American living in Australia right now (Adelaide) and wife and I are thinking of moving to Victoria on Vancouver Island. She's a GP and I'm a geek. I know the home prices are going to be high, but tbh, it seems Australia is also quite high! If one was willing to live in the suburbs, a bit away from the city, is it really as bad as people say? Also, how is the tech scene in Victoria?

Hold off for a few months. Canada is one of the few developed countries who hasn't seen their housing bubble burst yet, and the bubble is most pronounced in coastal BC and the Greater Toronto Area. Vancouver, for a time, was riding some of the highest housing prices in the world. But that tide is turning, as it has everywhere else in the world. Sooner than later there will be deals to be had.

Good advice, thanks. I've been reading sites like greaterfool.ca and following the RE market in .ca quite closely.

Wife and I agree that we would rent for a while as the rents are quite low compared to mortgages and we would see what happens. Either way, IMO, when mortgages are 2x-3x higher than rents, it doesn't make much fiscal sense to buy.

Thanks for the heads up!

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