3 ms·
I've spent the last two months in Canada, taking in bits and pieces of the investment landscape and technical culture I left for Silicon Valley two years ago. I
by keithwhor 10y ago
I've spent the last two months in Canada, taking in bits and pieces of the investment landscape and technical culture I left for Silicon Valley two years ago. I'm interested in the contrast.
To preface, I love Canada. I love Toronto. I was born and raised here. (Yes, Drake's pretty cool, too). But my biggest criticism of the industry in Toronto is that it seems to be missing this spark. A meeting in Silicon Valley isn't just a meeting. Due to proximity and kindness of strangers, it's the start of propagating wave of influence. As you create more of these waves, constructive interference forms peaks that manifest in specific individuals who are not only willing to help you, they're willing to champion for you.
Toronto doesn't lack kindness of strangers. At all. But it lacks a large-scale cohesive human medium via proximity that Silicon Valley so readily provides. As a Toronto-born Canadian, I'm deeply interested in how Canada's ecosystem can better facilitate and grow this kind of critical mass of talent and connections. There are good places to start, my friend Ahmad Nassri runs TechMasters (https://techmasters.chat/ https://techmasters.chat/) and is bringing thousands of developers together.
I think a great approach might be heading towards deepening SV ties and becoming part of a larger social medium instead of trying to bootstrap its own. I think this is a huge part of the NYC tech community that is blossoming and I've been able to witness first hand as well. I guess we'll see how far SV influence can reach. :)
- khnd 10y agosv has a homogeneous culture builtin
- acchow 10y agoAlso Toronto born-and-raised and living in SF. I'm not sure what this spark you speak of is, but I feel a ton of energy, enthusiasm, fearlessness, and widespread talent in SF that barely exists in Toronto. I believe that much of it has to do with self-selection - SF is full of people that decided to be there and intentionally moved there - wanted to learn programming, or wanted to start a company, or didn't feel comfortable being homosexual in their small town, or wanted to live somewhere with warmer winters and hiking in December. It feels like most people in Toronto were born there or moved there as young kids when their parents immigrated. The self selection of people in SF has dramatic influences on its culture. Maybe you can call it homogeneous and sure there's a big tech industry in SF, but it's hardly the largest industry there.