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Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

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Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#281

Post by lcc »

rattray wrote: post #168
lcc wrote: post #80

Not if Toronto keeps hemorrhaging talent. I graduated from the University of Toronto last year and can only name 2 of my classmates who are actually working in Toronto now. The rest are in SF, Seattle, and NYC - including many people who have family in Toronto, like me. All of my friends who were seriously working on a startup have moved it to the Bay Area. Many of us would love to move back to Toronto 'eventually',…

Do you think there'll be opportunities to start terrific technology companies in Toronto ~5-10 years down the line, when "everyone moves back"? Especially if they pay better?

There's always the opportunity. You could start a terrific technology company in Toronto (and stay there) right now, but you'd be an outlier. That said, I think it'll only take a few high-visibility 'anchor' companies to seed the city and start pulling people back in. And that could very reasonably happen in the next 5-10 years.

Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#282

Post by jchiu1106 »

treve wrote: post #218
jchiu1106 wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you lived in Toronto? Houses in the city average over 1M CAD and there are tons of vagrants on the street.

I currently live in Toronto, but I didn't buy a house. My monthly expenses would be nearly 30% higher for a morgage and condo fees for the place I'm renting now. I rather invest that in a business. As for people living on the street. According to wikipedia the estimated homeless population in San Fransisco is between 7000 and 10000. The estimated number in Toronto is 5,253 (source: Toronto.ca), but since Toronto has…

The city of Toronto is a lot bigger than SF as a result of amalgamation[1], but most vagrants "live" in downtown core, which is an area a lot smaller than SF.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalgamation_of_Toronto

Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#283

Post by pm90 »

aianus wrote: post #274
rayiner wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever lived in a third world country? I lived in Bangladesh until I was 5. Homeless people in SF is one thing. But children begging in the street. Fuck, I don't have the stomach for that.

Yes, I lived in Vietnam (where the median salary is $150-$200 a month) for 6 months on ~$20,000. It was loads of fun and I enjoyed a lifestyle equivalent to earning at least $250k back in SF. Hotel room in the city center, maid service, bar night every night, motorcycle, valet parking everywhere, restaurants 3x a day, etc. > But children begging in the street. Fuck, I don't have the stomach for that There appeared to…

I don't think rayiner suggested that you're contributing to the state of affairs, just that its rather heartbreaking to see the level of abject poverty in many non-western countries. And even if it sounds supremely selfish, I do like living in an area/country where I don't have to see that every day on my way to work.

Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#284

Post by goatforce5 »

jacques_chester wrote: post #101
goatforce5 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the E3 still have the "if you lose your job you have 2 weeks to leave the country" clause on it? It had me on edge the whole time I was in the States (which funnily enough prompted me to find a job in Toronto).

Yes, but with the job market the way it is, it's not too risky. Here's how it would play out if I left my job. I'd fly to Toronto on Canada's visa waiver, wait there until the E3 expired. Fly back to NYC on the USA's visa waiver program. This gives me 90 days to find an employer who will sponsor an E3. Fly back to Toronto to get the E3 done. Fly back to NYC to start the job. It'd be a silly shuffle of about a month,…

If you entered the US on a VWP, and try to reenter the US on the VWP without going further than Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean, you may find yourself denied entry.

I'm not sure if this applies if you were on a different class of visa before attempting to reenter the US using the VWP. I think the US border agents would be very suspicious though.

I've entered the US about 15 times since my E3 expired, and i'd say i've been specifically questioned about my E3 on 8 or 9 of those occasions. "You used to work in America? What's the name of your current employer? Are you looking for a job at the moment? You know you can't work in the US any more, right?" Stuff like that.

Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#285

Post by astrodust »

raverbashing wrote: post #68
gamekathu wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how is the tech scene at Montreal?

Regrettable Some say it's ok. There are some startups, but most of the environment seems to be "corporate oriented", and .NET is very popular

A certain irony that the "language barrier" for most people will be C# and not French.

Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#286

Post by acchow »

mrgordon wrote: post #263
AlexC04 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great to hear you can go without a car in SF I'm a 20 minute walk to work in Toronto with a large grocery store across the street from home. Basically everything can be done on foot. Add in a bike and a nice transit system and no-car is pretty easy here. Are you in SF? Does $4k for a 1 bed+den seem to be in the ballpark?

Rents can vary widely but I think $3000 is probably a more reasonable estimate. The transit estimates also seem too high - I spend almost nothing because I can walk to work and take a Lyft Line for $5 or a bus for $2.25 if I need to. Many people bike. Overall it would be fairly easy to only spend a few hundred a month on transit for many people if your apartment isn't too isolated.

You cannot get a 1BR+den for $3000 in SF. It'll be just over $4k since it'll be similar square footage to a 2BR but discounted for not having the proper second bedroom.

Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#287

Post by astrodust »

votr wrote: post #60
johan_larson wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Waterloo is arguably part of greater Toronto. The local commuter service (Go Transit) reaches all the way to Kitchener-Waterloo. I say "arguably" because it's a two-hour train ride each way, which is pretty brutal.

If Waterloo is part of Toronto, you may as well count in Hamilton, Oakville, and Milton as well. Hell, throw in Niagara Falls.

It's called the "Greater Toronto Area" for a reason.

Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#289

Post by astrodust »

anatoli wrote: post #7
kenrose wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't know about KIK, but Shopify has a large development office in Toronto near King and Spadina.

They also just invested in a huge space (King Portland Centre) that won't be built until 2019.

Huge is putting it mildly. This is a pretty major campus.

Re: Toronto is poised to become a producer of tech startups

#290

Post by jacques_chester »

goatforce5 wrote: post #284
jacques_chester wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but with the job market the way it is, it's not too risky. Here's how it would play out if I left my job. I'd fly to Toronto on Canada's visa waiver, wait there until the E3 expired. Fly back to NYC on the USA's visa waiver program. This gives me 90 days to find an employer who will sponsor an E3. Fly back to Toronto to get the E3 done. Fly back to NYC to start the job. It'd be a silly shuffle of about a month,…

If you entered the US on a VWP, and try to reenter the US on the VWP without going further than Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean, you may find yourself denied entry. I'm not sure if this applies if you were on a different class of visa before attempting to reenter the US using the VWP. I think the US border agents would be very suspicious though. I've entered the US about 15 times since my E3 expired, and i'd say i've…

Thanks for the heads up. I'll amend my plan to include flying back to Perth.
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