How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay • Hacker News Board

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#161

Post by rchaud » Wed, Jan 13, 2021, 7:48 PM UTC

HDMI_Cable wrote: post #117

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…

I love Montreal too, but being legally required to speak French drives away a lot of people who would normally come live here. Anecdotally, I know quite a few people who chose Vancouver and Edmonton over Montreal, partly because they were afraid of the language / culture surrounding the language.

Vanc over Montreal is understandable for weather reasons alone, but Edmonton??

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#162

Post by rchaud » Wed, Jan 13, 2021, 7:50 PM UTC

raydev wrote: post #148

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…

It's tough to get solid info, but aren't tech salaries in MTL like 70% of Toronto's?

Rent in Montreal is much lower than Toronto, especially for units over 700 sqft. Toronto apartments can be affordable if you're OK with a 400-500sqft shoebox, but prices rapidly go up from there.

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#163

Post by triceratops » Wed, Jan 13, 2021, 9:11 PM UTC

3pt14159 wrote: post #157

triceratops wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm comparing your typical 50 person startup to a typical 50 person startup in Canada...I could make $200 CAD in Toronto. Shrug. It's been a couple of years since I last looked. But I don't know any 50-person startup in Toronto that pays that much. If you know specific names... :-)

I mean, I'm sorry to break this to you but if you're good at data science or complex backend web development it's pretty common. I was making around $225k CAD a year (straight cash, not counting options) at 500px a decade ago when it was around 35 people. Now nominally I was Chief Data Scientist and it included some IP from my two person startup they acquired, but it was an aquihire and everyone knew it. I had just t…

No worries, I'm under no illusions my skill is anywhere near yours. But I think it's fair to say you'd make even more in the US. Not just more. Most people would. I do as well, even though I'm nowhere near your level.

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#164

Post by dismalpedigree » Wed, Jan 13, 2021, 10:53 PM UTC

DeRock wrote: post #107

dismalpedigree wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

I’m referring to Middle America salaries in most mid sized cities. If those same people went to NYC or SF it would be another story. Likely 2x at least.

Re: How the Canadian Tech Scene Encourages Finite Gameplay

#165

Post by jariel » Thu, Jan 14, 2021, 12:36 AM UTC

otoburb wrote: post #154

jariel wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Element was a group of ex-consultants and a bunch of AI researchers with no market, no product plan. They were going to do some 'consulting' type work, and then ostensibly use the results of that to come up with product offers. The obvious fallibility in that is: 1) The companies they are working with will not give up their data and allow them to be used in Element Products. No way. In some cases, maybe for a fee, bu…

>> But in some situations, raising $150M with government and institutional backers is easier than raising from traditional VC directly. Like a big government backed initiative with all the flair, PR, announcements. The >$150M raised, a good chunk sourced by the provincial government, is in a sense more "precious" because there's so little Canadian venture capital with low(er) risk tolerances floating around, resultin…

The money came from Desjardins etc. because of the 'strategic' and 'nationalist' aspect of the investment.

No VC - even American one's were going to invest in that kind of boondoggle up front at those valuations.

So you're right when you say 'there isn't enough money' - at the same time, that's not the problem specifically here, and, frankly, good companies will get the money.

There are big funds in Canada.