Toronto Startup Expert: What Toronto's got that the Valley Can't Provide(port25.ca)
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Toronto Startup Expert: What Toronto's got that the Valley Can't Provide
http://www.port25.ca/2011/01/28/cultivating-torontos-sprouting-startups-interview-with-erin-bury/
25 comments
Also, developers in Toronto (and all of Canada) don't have to worry about affording health insurance if they join a startup instead of some BigCorp, leaving talented engineers free to pursue the companies and causes that interest them rather than just the ones big enough to get insurance at a discount.
True - but then the developers have to deal with higher taxes as a result of free health care.
I also think the effective corporate tax rate is higher too so that can causes issues.
I also think the effective corporate tax rate is higher too so that can causes issues.
Well, hard to compare as it isn't really an easy process for a Canadian to just decide to go work in the USA instead of Canada to avoid the tax.
If you're a founder you're likely minimizing your "income" to almost zero to avoid as much tax as you can anyway.
If you're a founder you're likely minimizing your "income" to almost zero to avoid as much tax as you can anyway.
"What Toronto's got that the Valley Can't Provide"
Bandwidth caps?
Bandwidth caps?
The worlds longest commute... no, seriously!
Yes, if you live outside of Toronto and commute in, not if you're in the city.
I think Microsoft is pretty involved in the Toronto community. I see them sponsoring events and sometimes holding events, providing content, and the BizSpark program. The BizSpark program is the best way I’ve seen them help startups. I feel like people involved with BizSpark are really concerned with helping startups succeed.
blah, blah, blah microsoft ad.
blah, blah, blah microsoft ad.
As a startup founder and Torontonian, I was thinking that maybe I've been missing something, judging from the headline. And then I read the article and it's kind of a puff piece. More an advertorial for Erin Bury than anything else.
I had the good fortune of meeting a high profile VC in the Valley in November and when I told him we were in Toronto, he said "OK, here's my first piece of advice. Move to the Valley."
I wish that wasn't the case because Toronto is awesome, but you can't compare it to SV when it comes to volume of activity, talent density or the echo-chamber that can hype your picture-sharing app up.
I had the good fortune of meeting a high profile VC in the Valley in November and when I told him we were in Toronto, he said "OK, here's my first piece of advice. Move to the Valley."
I wish that wasn't the case because Toronto is awesome, but you can't compare it to SV when it comes to volume of activity, talent density or the echo-chamber that can hype your picture-sharing app up.
I love Canada, I love Toronto and I love entrepreneurship. I run a small startup in Toronto and I must admit that comparing Toronto to Silicon Valley is a joke. Toronto isn't even the best place in Canada to work on a startup and maybe not in the top 3.
It's nice that the community is tight knit and there is some good talent here but what is missing is really some of the most important stuff: 1. VC and Angel Money, 2. Connections and 3. A deep pool of startup oriented hackers
It's nice that the community is tight knit and there is some good talent here but what is missing is really some of the most important stuff: 1. VC and Angel Money, 2. Connections and 3. A deep pool of startup oriented hackers
hi, I am considering moving to Canada from the Washington DC area. Where would you consider the most startup-friendly areas in Canada be?
Waterloo, Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto. Probably in that order.
If it matters, there's currently A LOT of money in Montreal. VC funds are full and they're desperately looking for deals. If you have a decent team with a decent idea, they'll just throw money your way.
Any specific funds? We're on the cusp of that next step and the info would be great to have.
Real Ventures holds a big bag of money right now... http://realventures.com/
If you're ever in Montreal, let me know, I might be able to help.
If you're ever in Montreal, let me know, I might be able to help.
Waterloo?
I admit I'm really sheltered from the rest of the Canadian scene from Winnipeg as the startup scene is scarce but I haven't heard much from Waterloo out here. If I had to name the top three I would have said the same in that order with the exception of Waterloo, as it wouldn't even be on my radar screen.
What am I missing for it to be first on your list?
I admit I'm really sheltered from the rest of the Canadian scene from Winnipeg as the startup scene is scarce but I haven't heard much from Waterloo out here. If I had to name the top three I would have said the same in that order with the exception of Waterloo, as it wouldn't even be on my radar screen.
What am I missing for it to be first on your list?
Cheap interns. A ocean full of them. All hungry and desperate and more than willing to do a bang-up job for a good co-op rating.
Affordable office space right next door to Google, RIM, IBM, SyBase, etc, along with a bunch of other startups.
Being plugged directly into the artery of Canada's indisputably most prolific source of CS and engineering education.
And I'm not even in Waterloo :P
Affordable office space right next door to Google, RIM, IBM, SyBase, etc, along with a bunch of other startups.
Being plugged directly into the artery of Canada's indisputably most prolific source of CS and engineering education.
And I'm not even in Waterloo :P
Hmmm. Interesting, thanks. All news to me, unfortunately.
We need a more connected nationally distributed network of startup founders, methinks. We're spread out in Canada and even the larger urban centres aren't _rich_ with tech activity (More so than here, but still doesn't seem anywhere near the US communities from my PoV - SV, NYC, etc.).
We need a more connected nationally distributed network of startup founders, methinks. We're spread out in Canada and even the larger urban centres aren't _rich_ with tech activity (More so than here, but still doesn't seem anywhere near the US communities from my PoV - SV, NYC, etc.).
IMHO the problem here is that there isn't much of a software scene in Canada to begin with - at least, not compared to just about any major US city.
I've moved from Canada to Seattle, and the cultural difference is pretty immense. You have giants like Boeing, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon constantly feeding fresh talent into the city, and a number of these people will spin off startups. You have a large number of extremely talented people, working on hard problems, who can hop out of big-co life and work on a startup. Or you can crash and burn and hop right back to working at big-co. This sort of possibility doesn't really exist in Canada.
The Canadian software scene leans closer to enterprise IT than it does innovative cutting-edge work. There isn't a sufficiently sized pool of eager hackers - too many salarymen, not enough trailblazers. Without innovative, big companies feeding the flywheel a vibrant startup scene simply cannot exist in any appreciable scale.
It doesn't help that every keen software engineer I know from Canada is like myself - having moved to the US to pursue greater opportunities, more challenging and rewarding work, and let's be honest, about double the pay that any Canadian company is willing to offer.
I've moved from Canada to Seattle, and the cultural difference is pretty immense. You have giants like Boeing, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon constantly feeding fresh talent into the city, and a number of these people will spin off startups. You have a large number of extremely talented people, working on hard problems, who can hop out of big-co life and work on a startup. Or you can crash and burn and hop right back to working at big-co. This sort of possibility doesn't really exist in Canada.
The Canadian software scene leans closer to enterprise IT than it does innovative cutting-edge work. There isn't a sufficiently sized pool of eager hackers - too many salarymen, not enough trailblazers. Without innovative, big companies feeding the flywheel a vibrant startup scene simply cannot exist in any appreciable scale.
It doesn't help that every keen software engineer I know from Canada is like myself - having moved to the US to pursue greater opportunities, more challenging and rewarding work, and let's be honest, about double the pay that any Canadian company is willing to offer.
The nice thing about being a startup in Vancouver is you have really motivated staff
We keep an office in Toronto to send all the failures to - that really motivates people to succeed!
We keep an office in Toronto to send all the failures to - that really motivates people to succeed!
Getting sick and tired of articles talking about why ____ is better than the Valley. If it is better, please fucking show what product has come out of the place. Show something, don't just talk.
Watcom c++
Am I to old for HN now?
Am I to old for HN now?
We'd move to Toronto too if she was our CM!