Startups in Montréal

#1

Post by jordigh » Mon, Apr 04, 2016, 7:47 PM UTC

Re: Startups in Montréal

#2

Post by JamilD » Mon, Apr 04, 2016, 8:11 PM UTC

Love seeing more prominent Canadian startups.

I'm always impressed when I speak to people from McGill too… they have a tech-focused culture that could rival Waterloo. Miles ahead of the University of Toronto.

Re: Startups in Montréal

#3

Post by devereaux » Mon, Apr 04, 2016, 8:21 PM UTC

That's great!!

Montreal is the place to be. Open, not so expansive, with easy access to North American market and it's easy to recruit internationally.

Only one real problem: the brain drain to the US

And I'm not talking about subsidies or taxes because that's a similar problem everywhere.

Re: Startups in Montréal

#4

Post by bhouston » Mon, Apr 04, 2016, 8:28 PM UTC

My favority is https://www.artstation.com/

So much inspiration.

Hard to beat their Alexa.com traffic growth:

http://alexa.com/siteinfo/artstation.com

Re: Startups in Montréal

#5

Post by toomim » Mon, Apr 04, 2016, 8:32 PM UTC

I moved to Montreal last summer and spring, after years in Seattle and Berkeley. Then I gave up and moved back to Berkeley.

Pros:

    + Bitcoin Embassy Montreal!
    + Really cheap hipster life
      + Wonderful cheap food
      + Walkable city
      + A French culture that values living, parks, & community!
    + Beautiful women, and lots of them
    + There actually is a tech scene!  Woah!
    + It's different

Cons:

    - Less edgy culture.  Less individual extreme boundary pushing.
      People move in largish herds of friends.
    - Racist against people who speak English.  Language racism.
    - Corrupt government
    - McGill and Concordia are nowhere near as good as
      Berkeley and Stanford, and not even UW.

Overall, it has a culture that supports working for a startup or doing tech contracting work, but it lacks that revolutionary west-coast culture that I like to live inside of to take a stab at doing something breakthrough.

And language racism really sucks! On the upside, it's a great way for a white american male to experience being a discriminated minority.

Re: Startups in Montréal

#6

Post by epa » Mon, Apr 04, 2016, 8:33 PM UTC

devereaux wrote: post #3

That's great!! Montreal is the place to be. Open, not so expansive, with easy access to North American market and it's easy to recruit internationally. Only one real problem: the brain drain to the US And I'm not talking about subsidies or taxes because that's a similar problem everywhere.

Canada as a whole sees locals fleeing to the US for higher wages and lower taxes, primarily professionals as defined.

Re: Startups in Montréal

#7

Post by tedmiston » Mon, Apr 04, 2016, 8:33 PM UTC

devereaux wrote: post #3

That's great!! Montreal is the place to be. Open, not so expansive, with easy access to North American market and it's easy to recruit internationally. Only one real problem: the brain drain to the US And I'm not talking about subsidies or taxes because that's a similar problem everywhere.

I might add that the standard for both coffee and bars in Montreal is quite high, and also priced cheaper than the midwest. Montreal is truly a hidden gem.

Re: Startups in Montréal

#8

Post by JamilD » Mon, Apr 04, 2016, 8:34 PM UTC

toomim wrote: post #5

I moved to Montreal last summer and spring, after years in Seattle and Berkeley. Then I gave up and moved back to Berkeley. Pros: + Bitcoin Embassy Montreal! + Really cheap hipster life + Wonderful cheap food + Walkable city + A French culture that values living, parks, & community! + Beautiful women, and lots of them + There actually is a tech scene! Woah! + It's different Cons: - Less edgy culture. Less individual…

I find this is a culture that pervades most of Canada (with perhaps the exception of Waterloo). It's a culture that follows, not leads and innovates.

We're all for pretending to be like Silicon Valley… but not trying anything new :)

Re: Startups in Montréal

#9

Post by daok » Mon, Apr 04, 2016, 8:34 PM UTC

devereaux wrote: post #3

That's great!! Montreal is the place to be. Open, not so expansive, with easy access to North American market and it's easy to recruit internationally. Only one real problem: the brain drain to the US And I'm not talking about subsidies or taxes because that's a similar problem everywhere.

The main problem is the salary. Startup are having a really low salary compared to other jobs in Montreal with often the speech of being part of the next big thing to compensate the salary. In the US, startups are offering very competitive salary which make it easier to have people going into startup.

Re: Startups in Montréal

#10

Post by Raphmedia » Mon, Apr 04, 2016, 8:34 PM UTC

toomim wrote: post #5

I moved to Montreal last summer and spring, after years in Seattle and Berkeley. Then I gave up and moved back to Berkeley. Pros: + Bitcoin Embassy Montreal! + Really cheap hipster life + Wonderful cheap food + Walkable city + A French culture that values living, parks, & community! + Beautiful women, and lots of them + There actually is a tech scene! Woah! + It's different Cons: - Less edgy culture. Less individual…

(quebecers here)

Not language racism but english-phobia. Everyone that I know will switch to english to help people, but they expect that the reverse will be true too. You will be expected to at least attempt French. Attempting it will be enough and people will gladly help you out.