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Canada and Japan are also not good at innovating. Probably other places too. So this may be more of a question of why are the US (and China) above average curre

Canada and Japan are also not good at innovating. Probably other places too. So this may be more of a question of why are the US (and China) above average currently. One thing I'd speculate, US generally has more disparity than other places (that's the stereotype anyway, but it's what matters) So I bet there are way more horrible failures as well, and people in dire straights because of their decision to try and innovate. But what we see are the rare successes that come out the other end.

barbariangrunge 4y ago
Canada innovates quite a bit. American companies just keep buying the Canadian ones who do so before they get big. The whole Canadian tech sector is like an incubator for the USA in some ways. Although… the government invests almost nothing in starting new Canadian companies too, and instead focuses on luring American companies to open offices here, or else on giving money to existing medium and large Canadian businesses to convince them to increase hiring. This is a pet peeve of mine. It’s very short sighted
- jacobr1 4y ago
  Most American states are like this too. Outside the big tech-hubs, everything is about tax-lures in exchange for hiring commitments.
- version_five 4y ago
  I've personally found that the Canadian economy is basically just arranged around vacuuming up government money while producing as little as possible.
- pvaldes 4y ago
  This is probably the main point. Europe is very good at innovation and really bad retaining the talent that produces. The companies based in this research end being created in US, for several different reasons.
GuB-42 4y ago
For the US, I think it is cultural. Americans are taught from a young age that it is do or die. And they do a lot, they die a lot too. It is evident with the relationship to money, in Europe, we are told to save money, never spend what you don't have, etc... In they US, you should invest until you have nothing left, and then live on a credit, not using money you have is seen as a waste. I sincerely think that it is part of the reason why the US is so successful as a country. It has a population that is both hard working and efficient in a way that is unseen in other countries, mostly because it has no choice. For China, I think the reason is much simpler: it is huge. It has twice the population of Europe, and four times that of the US. And they are just transitioning to becoming a developed country. India is a bit lagging as a country, but I expect it become a major force in the near future for the same reasons.
raverbashing 4y ago
I'm gonna be honest, Canada startups are weird While, true, we have good business models like Shopify, Canada has its fair share of places with, let me put it like this, "so what?" business models. Things that would look weird even if they were SV startups
- jacobr1 4y ago
  Can you give some examples?
  - raverbashing 4y ago
    I was going to, but I couldn't find their names One was a "make a cartoon" one, which I think got some investment but in the end closed The other one was "pay your restaurant bill" app. Because apparently calling the waiter is too hard and I'm sure a low margin business will be very happy to have another intermediary with pretty much no value added.
- version_five 4y ago
  What I've seen a lot of is "startups" that exist primarily to fulfill the role of "startup" in some kind of grant program that pays businesses to partner with startups. And if you are trying to start a tech company in canada, you end up bombarded with information about how to do this, it's all anyone really wants to talk about. Imo the while ecosystem is corrupted by government incentives or in some industries outright pretent and basically just bought with government money

barbariangrunge 4y ago

Canada innovates quite a bit. American companies just keep buying the Canadian ones who do so before they get big. The whole Canadian tech sector is like an incubator for the USA in some ways. Although… the government invests almost nothing in starting new Canadian companies too, and instead focuses on luring American companies to open offices here, or else on giving money to existing medium and large Canadian businesses to convince them to increase hiring. This is a pet peeve of mine. It’s very short sighted

jacobr1 4y ago
Most American states are like this too. Outside the big tech-hubs, everything is about tax-lures in exchange for hiring commitments.
version_five 4y ago
I've personally found that the Canadian economy is basically just arranged around vacuuming up government money while producing as little as possible.
pvaldes 4y ago
This is probably the main point. Europe is very good at innovation and really bad retaining the talent that produces. The companies based in this research end being created in US, for several different reasons.

GuB-42 4y ago

For the US, I think it is cultural. Americans are taught from a young age that it is do or die. And they do a lot, they die a lot too. It is evident with the relationship to money, in Europe, we are told to save money, never spend what you don't have, etc... In they US, you should invest until you have nothing left, and then live on a credit, not using money you have is seen as a waste. I sincerely think that it is part of the reason why the US is so successful as a country. It has a population that is both hard working and efficient in a way that is unseen in other countries, mostly because it has no choice. For China, I think the reason is much simpler: it is huge. It has twice the population of Europe, and four times that of the US. And they are just transitioning to becoming a developed country. India is a bit lagging as a country, but I expect it become a major force in the near future for the same reasons.

raverbashing 4y ago

I'm gonna be honest, Canada startups are weird While, true, we have good business models like Shopify, Canada has its fair share of places with, let me put it like this, "so what?" business models. Things that would look weird even if they were SV startups

jacobr1 4y ago
Can you give some examples?
- raverbashing 4y ago
  I was going to, but I couldn't find their names One was a "make a cartoon" one, which I think got some investment but in the end closed The other one was "pay your restaurant bill" app. Because apparently calling the waiter is too hard and I'm sure a low margin business will be very happy to have another intermediary with pretty much no value added.
version_five 4y ago
What I've seen a lot of is "startups" that exist primarily to fulfill the role of "startup" in some kind of grant program that pays businesses to partner with startups. And if you are trying to start a tech company in canada, you end up bombarded with information about how to do this, it's all anyone really wants to talk about. Imo the while ecosystem is corrupted by government incentives or in some industries outright pretent and basically just bought with government money