Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#1

Post by graeme » Sat, Jul 07, 2012, 4:23 PM UTC

Canada’s vanishing tech sector
theglobeandmail.com

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#2

Post by dmix » Sat, Jul 07, 2012, 5:58 PM UTC

If the United States passes the startup visa act, it would be vanishing much quicker.

I'd most certainly be in line to apply.

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#3

Post by saeidm » Sat, Jul 07, 2012, 6:00 PM UTC

The problem extends beyond financing. As even the article says, successful companies like Shopify are able to raise $$$ from the US. It's also a scale problem. Canada has has, by my count, four micro tech scenes (Waterloo, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa). In a Country with such a small population, there really still isn't a "hub" for tech. With talent so dispersed (and much of it moving to the US as it is), it's hard to get talent for good ideas in one place.

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#4

Post by jaems33 » Sat, Jul 07, 2012, 6:06 PM UTC

saeidm wrote: post #3

The problem extends beyond financing. As even the article says, successful companies like Shopify are able to raise $$$ from the US. It's also a scale problem. Canada has has, by my count, four micro tech scenes (Waterloo, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa). In a Country with such a small population, there really still isn't a "hub" for tech. With talent so dispersed (and much of it moving to the US as it is), it's hard to…

Indeed. Big companies like Microsoft and Google tend to snatch a good portion of highly skilled engineers, while most designers (product and visual) tend to head towards New York City or San Francisco for better growth and money.

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#5

Post by cal5k » Sat, Jul 07, 2012, 6:06 PM UTC

As an individual Canadian entrepreneur, really your only course of action is to ignore the talk of doom and gloom and just get shit done.

It does seem to be the reality, though, that beyond a certain stage the only way to get a good valuation is to work with American VCs.

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#6

Post by danielharan » Sat, Jul 07, 2012, 6:11 PM UTC

cal5k wrote: post #5

As an individual Canadian entrepreneur, really your only course of action is to ignore the talk of doom and gloom and just get shit done. It does seem to be the reality, though, that beyond a certain stage the only way to get a good valuation is to work with American VCs.

IME s/beyond a certain stage//

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#7

Post by burke » Sat, Jul 07, 2012, 6:15 PM UTC

saeidm wrote: post #3

The problem extends beyond financing. As even the article says, successful companies like Shopify are able to raise $$$ from the US. It's also a scale problem. Canada has has, by my count, four micro tech scenes (Waterloo, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa). In a Country with such a small population, there really still isn't a "hub" for tech. With talent so dispersed (and much of it moving to the US as it is), it's hard to…

the NAFTA really does a number on us (Canada) here in making it so easy to work in the States on TN status. I went to university a few years ago with a small group of 3 other pretty bright programmer friends.

It turns out it's hard to find an excellent job in Canada. Though I'm now working for Shopify, which appears to be the only really great option for me here, the other three of them have recently moved to New York, the Valley, and North Carolina.

The problem with the tech scene in Canada is a chicken and egg one. We need good companies to prevent skilled tech workers from moving to the States, but we need skilled workers to build good companies. Moving to a Canadian startup hub, if one is ever designated, is not significantly easier for most people than moving to the Valley.

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#8

Post by christofd » Sat, Jul 07, 2012, 6:20 PM UTC

agreed. been looking at this for a while. If you're Canada based you gotta reach out internationally (Europe, U.S., Asia) to acquire funds, projects, ideas. Thinking domestic is not optimal.

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#9

Post by dkubb » Sat, Jul 07, 2012, 6:20 PM UTC

jaems33 wrote: post #4

saeidm wrote: post #3

The problem extends beyond financing. As even the article says, successful companies like Shopify are able to raise $$$ from the US. It's also a scale problem. Canada has has, by my count, four micro tech scenes (Waterloo, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa). In a Country with such a small population, there really still isn't a "hub" for tech. With talent so dispersed (and much of it moving to the US as it is), it's hard to…

Indeed. Big companies like Microsoft and Google tend to snatch a good portion of highly skilled engineers, while most designers (product and visual) tend to head towards New York City or San Francisco for better growth and money.

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 occasionally do miss the one-on-one interaction I get with team. It helps that I've begin working for a co-op, and I'm often working as a team with the same devs on new client projects. I also do lots of oss work, which helps me keep my skills up by working on challenging projects as part of a community.

Re: Canada’s vanishing tech sector

#10

Post by erohead » Sat, Jul 07, 2012, 6:23 PM UTC

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 Canada at the moment.