Canada’s vanishing tech sector

Post by excuse-me » Sun, Jul 08, 2012, 2:52 AM UTC

realo wrote: post #63

myth_drannon wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gaming companies in Montreal are a sad joke and represent everything that is wrong with Canadian tech. 37 % of game developer salary is paid by provincial government. Our tax money is given to France's business elites.

And in what manner does this situation prevent high-tech stuff from happening in Montreal, with Quebec talent? The idea here is that a critical mass of talent is being raised in Montreal. I agree with you that this is a good example of what is wrong with high tech in Canada: why is it that French investors are willing to invest money in Montreal, but Toronto Investment banks don't? In what manner are Canadian VC's pr…

Post by erohead » Sun, Jul 08, 2012, 3:31 AM UTC

xal wrote: post #39

erohead wrote: post #10

It's amazing how most of these articles just talk about the difficulties of raising money. As if that's the only important thing missing in Canada for startups. What about the difficulty of finding out what users want (when your customers are all in the US), the lack of a concentrated talent pool of people in your sector (hard to network let alone hire), lack of sector-specific mentors. All much harder to do in Canad…

> What about the difficulty of finding out what users want (when your customers are all in the US) That's absolutely not the issue. In fact, Canada's national past time is to psycho analyse Americans. If anything we understand them better then they themselves. Also there is tons of money available. The issue is smart money. We raised all our money in New York City.

Post by imack » Sun, Jul 08, 2012, 4:03 AM UTC

graeme wrote: post #43

drstewart wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised you think New York or Vancouver are lower cost than SV. Externalities (housing, cost of living, etc.) are the same or higher than the other places. Talent may be more expensive but that's because that's (by and large) where the talent actually is.

The grand-parent just said Canada is: "- Relatively low cost (compared to, say, San Francisco);" That is true for most of Canada. Vancouver is expensive, but other cities are cheaper than SF. I have a 1 bedroom apartment in one of the nicest areas of Montreal for $650 per month.

Post by imack » Sun, Jul 08, 2012, 4:17 AM UTC

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…

Post by mark_story » Sun, Jul 08, 2012, 5:21 AM UTC

randomdata wrote: post #27

cletus wrote: post #22

I am an Australian/British dual-citizen (born in Australia but lived and worked some ~3 years in London and ~1 year in Zurich) who now works in New York. I've had discussions with various people (mainly other engineers) on the topic of how one would go about starting a startup. These discussions--largely theoretical--have centered around three problems: 1. Where? 2. The route to funding/profitability; and 3. Visa/res…

engineers aren't even on the list of high-demand occupations Probably because there is no demand. My local municipal government was recently looking for someone to maintain their website, which is little more than a simple blog. The job description essentially laid out the job as your basic, run of the mill CRUD application. The kind of stuff kids in high school do for fun. When you read down to the requirements sect…