Reasons to Start a Startup In Canada
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Reasons to Start a Startup In Canada
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Re: Reasons to Start a Startup In Canada
#2I may be a little bit cynical about the first 4 reasons, but the last one is very real. SR&ED tax credits mean that the Canadian government will fund 20-35% of your R&D as long as you do the paperwork (aka logbooks) and can stick it out long enough to have profits to apply the expenses against. These benefits are lucrative enough that failed R&D firms are sometimes purchased almost solely for their outstanding R&D tax credits.
And the Qualified Small Business capital gains exemption means that your first $750,000 in capital gains is not taxed at all.
Re: Reasons to Start a Startup In Canada
#3They seem to be rushing with the Canadian start-up visa thing. It's only in a consultation phase and no new category has been created as far as I can tell.
Re: Reasons to Start a Startup In Canada
#4I'm canuck and am very cynical about the startup space in Canada.
1) Large number of the best developers leave. I doubled my salary moving from Toronto to the Bay area.
2) Silicon Valley (and NY) has smart money. Not to insult Canadian VCs, but the ones I've met are glorified bankers.
3) This is no longer true. The recent govt is increasingly unfriendly to immigrants.
4) In the bay area, everyone I knew (and their dog) was working on a startup. Toronto and Vancouver don't compare.
5) I am very jaded by the govt influence on R&D. This attracts the wrong sort of people. e.g. I've heard of consulting firms that will write your proposal and greatly increase your odds of success - all you have to do is give them a 25% cut. Frankly, the cost of creating a startup is low enough that if you believe in your idea/revenue generation potential, you should not waste time writing proposals.
Re: Reasons to Start a Startup In Canada
#5"You don’t have Google and Facebook offering astronomical starting salaries for engineers right out of school"
Except that's a big reason why I left Canada to work in Silicon Valley.
It kinda went like this: "So you'll pay me 2-3 times what I could earn here, the weather is perfect, there's no mosquitos, and I can work on stuff people actually use? Where do I sign?"
Re: Reasons to Start a Startup In Canada
#6I may be a little bit cynical about the first 4 reasons, but the last one is very real. SR&ED tax credits mean that the Canadian government will fund 20-35% of your R&D as long as you do the paperwork (aka logbooks) and can stick it out long enough to have profits to apply the expenses against. These benefits are lucrative enough that failed R&D firms are sometimes purchased almost solely for their outstanding R&D ta…
Just to be clear, the capital gains exemption applies to sales of shares from a qualified Canadian small business, not all capital gains.
Also, on that topic, the Canadian controlled aspect of it can be undone by contracts you have with foreign shareholders, such as VCs. They can own < 50% of your stock but if they're deemed to have control by virtue of an option to acquire more stock or to force a sale, you lose the exemption.
Re: Reasons to Start a Startup In Canada
#7I'm canuck and am very cynical about the startup space in Canada. 1) Large number of the best developers leave. I doubled my salary moving from Toronto to the Bay area. 2) Silicon Valley (and NY) has smart money. Not to insult Canadian VCs, but the ones I've met are glorified bankers. 3) This is no longer true. The recent govt is increasingly unfriendly to immigrants. 4) In the bay area, everyone I knew (and their do…
1. Any numbers? Toronto you can get some pretty decent money. Also living in downtown with no car as opposed to driving everywhere in Bay area and paying crazy rent. It is not that clear cut imo. NYC is a better comparison probably
2. Not sure on this not enough experience
3. It is trivial to get a visa for Canada to work, compared to US there is no comparison. Note that for Canadian citizens it is different in US (much easier)
4. Yeah thats true, Toronto probably has the biggest community and it is small in comparison
5. So true, the whole thing is a scam. I actually worked on couple projects where these consultants were used. It is embarrassing.
Re: Reasons to Start a Startup In Canada
#8I may be a little bit cynical about the first 4 reasons, but the last one is very real. SR&ED tax credits mean that the Canadian government will fund 20-35% of your R&D as long as you do the paperwork (aka logbooks) and can stick it out long enough to have profits to apply the expenses against. These benefits are lucrative enough that failed R&D firms are sometimes purchased almost solely for their outstanding R&D ta…
Just to be clear, the capital gains exemption applies to sales of shares from a qualified Canadian small business, not all capital gains. Also, on that topic, the Canadian controlled aspect of it can be undone by contracts you have with foreign shareholders, such as VCs. They can own < 50% of your stock but if they're deemed to have control by virtue of an option to acquire more stock or to force a sale, you lose the…
And often times the Canadian startup is best off incorporating in DE. There's a little bit about it at http://blog.carlmercier.com/2011/08/29/us-incorporation-for-...
Re: Reasons to Start a Startup In Canada
#9I'm canuck and am very cynical about the startup space in Canada. 1) Large number of the best developers leave. I doubled my salary moving from Toronto to the Bay area. 2) Silicon Valley (and NY) has smart money. Not to insult Canadian VCs, but the ones I've met are glorified bankers. 3) This is no longer true. The recent govt is increasingly unfriendly to immigrants. 4) In the bay area, everyone I knew (and their do…
1. Any numbers? Toronto you can get some pretty decent money. Also living in downtown with no car as opposed to driving everywhere in Bay area and paying crazy rent. It is not that clear cut imo. NYC is a better comparison probably 2. Not sure on this not enough experience 3. It is trivial to get a visa for Canada to work, compared to US there is no comparison. Note that for Canadian citizens it is different in US (m…
re. 1: Your parent looks like a legit "throw away", but he's actually not! :)
Re: Reasons to Start a Startup In Canada
#10I'm canuck and am very cynical about the startup space in Canada. 1) Large number of the best developers leave. I doubled my salary moving from Toronto to the Bay area. 2) Silicon Valley (and NY) has smart money. Not to insult Canadian VCs, but the ones I've met are glorified bankers. 3) This is no longer true. The recent govt is increasingly unfriendly to immigrants. 4) In the bay area, everyone I knew (and their do…
Agreed. There's basically only a couple of reasons to start your startup in Canada.
* Portable, cheap healthcare. A lot of people in the US don't join a startup due to the health insurance issue. The healthcare you get from a startup is not even close to what a big company can offer you.
* You're like me (no CS degree) and the US government doesn't think you look like an engineer. This can be worked around, but for me, the issue dogged me at almost every turn.