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Why You Should Bootstrap in Montreal or Join Startup Chile
- chocoheadfred 15y agoActually, won't it be summer in both?
- xutopia 15y agoYes it would and if you know anything about winter in Canada you'll know that it would be awesome to be in Chile instead of the cold north.
- stan_rogers 15y agoDepending on where you live and work in Montréal, though, venturing outdoors in winter can be almost completely optional. That can be both a blessing and a curse. I lived a workaholic life there for a while and I hear the city's very nice -- but since both my apartment and my office (and the grocery store, restaurants, etc.) were connected to the Metro, I've never actually seen it.
- nkassis 15y agoYeah the underground city is pretty awesome and useful. There are days when you might have to carry a shovel with you(don't think I'm kidding it's not an uncommon sight) when walking outside in the winter but last few winters have been pretty mild (ok last year had a good amount of snow). Global warming's helping ;p
- chocoheadfred 15y agoI don't know anything about it but doesn't sound like much fun, winter in Canada.
- alphamale3000 15y agoNo need to bash if you don't know anything about it. Winter in Canada is better than most places. Instead of getting lots of rain you get lots of snow. It's nice to have more than 2 or 3 seasons.
- jbarham 15y ago> Winter in Canada is better than most places. Instead of getting lots of rain you get lots of snow. You obviously don't live in Vancouver, where it rains virtually every day for the 6 months of winter (and I say this as someone who lived there for 5 years). Very SAD. And in Toronto that snow very quickly turns to dirty slush. Gets old real fast. There's a reason Canadians who move to California tend to stay there. (Well, assuming they can get a green card. I didn't, which is why I'm now in Melbourne.)
- alphamale3000 15y agoThe post mentions Montreal. Where it does snow, it rains seldom during winter and sunny, but cold, days are the norm from December to March. You can't generalize on the weather in a 10 million square kilometer country.
- Cy 15y agowow - 40k of free money to go enjoy Santiago and build a company. Sounds like a dream!
- olliesaunders 15y agoProbably is
- dustineichler 15y agoThis sounds pretty cool. I'd go to Chile if not for a little travel and to escape the Bay Area bubble in lieu of a broader life experience. Wonder once you finish the 'program' what the terms are. I suspect they'd want you to stay wherever they're funding you. I also suspect developing countries (PIGS) are going to be a hot bed of innovative startups. Tangible problems beget real solutions, e.g. - successful companies?
- jot 15y agoOther recent HN posts and discussions about Start-Up Chile: 154 Startups Selected in Start-Up Chile's 2nd Round of 2011 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3031349 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3031349 Start-Up Chile is a Great Experience But Be Careful Too http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3055534 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3055534
- vsl2 15y agoNot much information about other requirements for Startup Chile in the article. Through Startup Chile's website: Teams must also give workshops, attend events etc., which hopefully won't be too big of a hassle. Not sure if you have to keep your business in Chile for a certain amount of time afterwards. Government support and involvement: Possibly good or bad.
- iamelgringo 15y agoI've been talking with a number of directors at length about the program, and we've been promoting it at Hackers & Founders. There is no requirement after the 6 months. And, the government support is all about walking you through the legal loop holes, and then generally getting out of the way.
- vsl2 15y agoThanks for the additional information. It sounds like really interesting opportunity, particularly for those wanting to learn about a new culture. And on second thought, the workshops and events are probably a good thing in that you're forced to step outside your intense startup focus to meet new people and maybe find prospective friends/users/employees/investors. I really liked Santiago when there for study abroad - nice people and very modern city. Only complaint would be the air pollution because of the "containment" effect of the surrounding Andes mountains.
- iamelgringo 15y agoMy pleasure. As far as I'm concerned, Startup Chile is one of the best sources of early money around for startups.
- joelrunyon 15y agoPretty cool, but Chile is hardly in the tropics. South America isn't automatically warm just because it's "south" :). That said, it looks like a killer opportunity. I've looked at this before and it's really going to be interesting to see the different experiences that these startups have come through over the coming months.
- fduran 15y agoThe weather in Santiago and Central Chile is Mediterranean (wine, fruit), arid in the north and temperate in the south, plus mountainous regions (and polar climate if you count their claimed Antarctica territories) so basically they have all the climates except for tropical.
- nico 15y agoWeather in Chile is pretty much the same as in California, and varies the same as you travel away from the Equator. Santiago, the capital, has about the same weather as San Jose.
- zmitri 15y agoAs someone who lived in Montreal for 4 years, it gets old pretty quick. I now live in Brooklyn for comparable prices to what I paid in Montreal (rent is a bit more, but food is dirt cheap in NY) and like it much more.
- hugacow 15y agoI can't see how doing a startup in Canada in general is a good idea. Policies there are a lot more restrictive than the states. It's a great place to visit, though.
- jleyank 15y agoHealth coverage.
- nkassis 15y agoI have to say this is a big one for me. It gives a lot more freedom and it's one less thing to stress about.
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- zmitri 15y agoI agree. Consider these two things: 1) Verizon has twice as many subscribers as Canada's population. The US is a way bigger market. 2) Generally people aren't as excited about your ideas as they are in SF or NYC. People here seem to be way more receptive to innovation. That being said, Canada has a great education system and there are a lot of smart motherfuckers. Too bad the immigration situation kind of sucks for founders. Disclosure: I am Canadian
- santiagoooooo 15y agoThis sounds like a fantastic opportunity. I like the Startup Chile project because they offer a great combination of non-equity funds, lots of government support for networking and an opportunity to explore a new place in the world. Congratulations and best of luck with this.
- aespinoza 15y agoI pretty much agree with the "location, location, location" idea. I am sure there are advantages to doing a startup in Chile and in Montreal. But I still think that to make it big, you have to do it in Silicon Valley. The concentration of talented and smart people is greater in Silicon Valley than in any other place.
- acangiano 15y agoThere are several reasons why you generally have a huge disadvantage when doing a startup in Canada, and it's not just about taxes and laws. Want to use that cool new service (e.g., Stripe)? Sorry, not available in Canada. Want to start a service that ships anything in the mail? Prohibitively expensive. Want funds? Banks won't lend you anything and investors are very few and risk averse. $20-50K investments in web startups are rare and big news when they happen. I love Canada and I'm not moving from it. But Canadian entrepreneurs have much lower chances of succeeding than American ones. Can you make millions in Canada? Sure, but it's a much less likely occurrence. And if you do, it will generally be still less than what American startups can make. This is why it makes no sense to start a company like Twitter in Canada. You can't sustain it. The best approach for Canadian startups is to bootstrap by charging money from day one. So you can get a lot of nice "Italian restaurants on the web" doing SaaS and making good money, but don't expect groundbreaking innovation a la Google from Canada. With that said, those who are already in Canada, like me, have no free pass. If you don't succeed, you can only blame yourself. "In Silicon Valley they hand out money like candy" is not a good excuse for never achieving your dreams in Canada.
- alphamale3000 15y agoEver heard of Delaware LLC? No need to live there, and you'll be able to use Stripe. All that will cost you less than private healthcare in the US. You'll find investors. But they all sleep together, and don't compete. What about the success stories? Radian6, BeyondTheRack, etc. There won't be as much, our economy is 1/10 of the size. I agree Canadian entrepreneurs have lower chances of getting multi-million VC rounds, but that doesn't necessarily mean lesser chances overall. You need to change your mindset. It's all the naysayers that push Canadian startups to sell lower.
- volandovengo 15y agoI agree with a lot of what you're saying but I think if your focus is to create an italien restaurent on the net, which you entirely own, I think your chances for success are actually better in Canada than the us.
- nkassis 15y ago
- monkeygus 15y agoDoes anyone have any more info on these government grants available in Canada that are mentioned ?