4 ms·

Or the implication that young founders are somehow in need of "adult supervision". This idea is alive and well in Canada (a more conservative culture generall

Or the implication that young founders are somehow in need of "adult supervision". This idea is alive and well in Canada (a more conservative culture generally); their tech scene hasn't exactly exploded as a result. This is a pet peeve of mine, and exactly the same ageism the author is complaining about. All of these things mean that you're not getting the best people for the job, both ways.

pmalynin 11y ago
This has been one of the worst things in being a founded in Edmonton. Also exacerbated by us getting shafted by oil, lack of interest in tech, essentially creates an environment where any decent developer / founder tries to gtfo to Vancouver or SF as fast as possible.
- NovaS1X 11y ago
  >essentially creates an environment where any decent developer / founder tries to gtfo to Vancouver or SF as fast as possible. And then the environment and expense of Vancouver makes most gtfo to Toronto or SF (like they wanted to in the first place).
  - serge2k 11y ago
    > like they wanted to in the first place Even now I'd rather go to Vancouver than SF or Toronto. I went to Seattle instead of Vancouver because my job offer was for Seattle.
spacecowboy_lon 11y ago
Adult supervision doens't necessarily mean grey hairs it means having common sense and Emotional Inteligence - look at the new MS CEO badly screwing up answering a softball q at an internal company meeting. I bet after that MS share holders though damn we should have hired Mulally.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- djhn 11y ago
  What are you referencing, out of interest? Link?
  - spacecowboy_lon 11y ago
    The new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella when he said "women shouldn’t ask for raises, but should instead have “faith that the system will give you the right raise.” Some on at his level should not make that sort of mistake evver.
    - DavidHm 11y ago
      Oh dear. I get what he was trying (I hope) to say, but that is such a horrible way to put it. For reference - Netflix said it best in that masterpiece of an HR document - a pay rise should never come up as a topic, because you should already be paying your people close to the top of what the market thinks they are worth .
- amscanne 11y ago
  My experience in Canada was that "experience" was simply a euphemism for age. I'm not complaining about genuine experience/wisdom/etc. I just think the correlation with age is a lot weaker than prevailing wisdom in the great white north, where age is almost seen as a requirement.
serge2k 11y ago
> This idea is alive and well in Canada (a more conservative culture generally); their tech scene hasn't exactly exploded as a result. That is far down the list of reasons why Canada's tech scene is weak. More conservative generally?
- amscanne 11y ago
  I feel this is one of the root problems with Canada's scene. Young founders are simply not viewed as credible without sufficient "experience" (an obvious euphemism for age). The result is that assistance offered to start-ups (via accelerators, etc.) is way too often in the form of finding "experienced" entrepreneurs to "guide" the start-ups, instead of actually enabling the young founders. The experience of a former low-level exec from Nortel, RIM, IBM or Microsoft Canada is generally not relevant to a start-up. You may disagree, but I feel I spent enough years grinding it out in Canada to justify an opinion.

pmalynin 11y ago

This has been one of the worst things in being a founded in Edmonton. Also exacerbated by us getting shafted by oil, lack of interest in tech, essentially creates an environment where any decent developer / founder tries to gtfo to Vancouver or SF as fast as possible.

NovaS1X 11y ago
>essentially creates an environment where any decent developer / founder tries to gtfo to Vancouver or SF as fast as possible. And then the environment and expense of Vancouver makes most gtfo to Toronto or SF (like they wanted to in the first place).
- serge2k 11y ago
  > like they wanted to in the first place Even now I'd rather go to Vancouver than SF or Toronto. I went to Seattle instead of Vancouver because my job offer was for Seattle.

spacecowboy_lon 11y ago

Adult supervision doens't necessarily mean grey hairs it means having common sense and Emotional Inteligence - look at the new MS CEO badly screwing up answering a softball q at an internal company meeting. I bet after that MS share holders though damn we should have hired Mulally.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
djhn 11y ago
What are you referencing, out of interest? Link?
- spacecowboy_lon 11y ago
  The new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella when he said "women shouldn’t ask for raises, but should instead have “faith that the system will give you the right raise.” Some on at his level should not make that sort of mistake evver.
  - DavidHm 11y ago
    Oh dear. I get what he was trying (I hope) to say, but that is such a horrible way to put it. For reference - Netflix said it best in that masterpiece of an HR document - a pay rise should never come up as a topic, because you should already be paying your people close to the top of what the market thinks they are worth .
amscanne 11y ago
My experience in Canada was that "experience" was simply a euphemism for age. I'm not complaining about genuine experience/wisdom/etc. I just think the correlation with age is a lot weaker than prevailing wisdom in the great white north, where age is almost seen as a requirement.

serge2k 11y ago

> This idea is alive and well in Canada (a more conservative culture generally); their tech scene hasn't exactly exploded as a result. That is far down the list of reasons why Canada's tech scene is weak. More conservative generally?

amscanne 11y ago
I feel this is one of the root problems with Canada's scene. Young founders are simply not viewed as credible without sufficient "experience" (an obvious euphemism for age). The result is that assistance offered to start-ups (via accelerators, etc.) is way too often in the form of finding "experienced" entrepreneurs to "guide" the start-ups, instead of actually enabling the young founders. The experience of a former low-level exec from Nortel, RIM, IBM or Microsoft Canada is generally not relevant to a start-up. You may disagree, but I feel I spent enough years grinding it out in Canada to justify an opinion.