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* Disclaimer - I wrote this post. Totally agree, Canada is incredibly diverse so this article is a bit overgeneralizing. Starting in Waterloo / Toronto / Vanco
by dquail 14y ago
* Disclaimer - I wrote this post.
Totally agree, Canada is incredibly diverse so this article is a bit overgeneralizing. Starting in Waterloo / Toronto / Vancouver / is night and day to Winnipeg (nothing against winnipeg).
The main take away is to be wary of the hype in the valley. That pervades the culture. Everyone from investors to your family fill you up with hype. You don't get that in Canada. You've gotta fight harder. That, in my opinion, isn't a bad thing. You can go much further on a dumb idea in the valley. *and yes I know that some of the best startups were once dumb ideas. But I don't believe the "valley" made them succeed. I think there's more companies that die because of false positives than companies that succeed in spite of not having them.
And yes. I readily admit that you need connections in the valley. I wouldn't be starting in Canada if I didn't already have a killer bay area network.
BTW. I toured Toronto not that long ago and visited Extreme(s) as well as a few other startups. I was blown away by the quality of stuff being built there and Waterloo. I'd not hesitate to start or join something there. There's real energy in that city ... and it's growing.
- sabat 14y agoHype may be somewhat more extreme in the hustle-and-bustle environment of the Valley, but hype is always something to be wary of. It's really no less likely to happen in, say, Vancouver.
- vecinu 14y agoI'm glad you had a great experience visiting Toronto and experiencing the startup culture there. I'm sure I'll see the area totally different when I return from SF and I may just find a role that I fit in very well. I totally agree with you about the over inflated hype currently in the valley. While this leads to a lot of failed startups and 'wrong' ideas being funded, I think it's still a healthy ecosystem for promoting innovation. Like you said in your article, shooting for the moon in Canada makes you seem insane while it's seen as commonplace in SF.
- ryanpers 14y agoThe hype and "over-investing" is deliberate. Why? Well, let's face it, the most revolutionary things have all started sounding silly and insane. People will buy things over computers without having actually seen or touched them? Humans will fly? Will travel to the moon? Everything is actually well modelled by equations that imply that everything is a wave and has probability it exists? So just because YOU think it sounds crazy or insane, doesn't mean it doesn't have a chance at something big. After all, who would want to communicate in 140 characters only, or have a real time feed of everything their friends do, or want tiny square pictures on their phone? On the subject matter, I've lived in SF for a few years now and I was born in Canada. In the US people will give you a chance, in Canada companies want to know what you have done and get you to do more of it.
- tsotha 14y ago>So just because YOU think it sounds crazy or insane, doesn't mean it doesn't have a chance at something big. This is true. I can name half a dozen billion dollar companies I rolled my eyes at when people told me what they do. "They're trying to make money by having people tell everyone they know what they ate for breakfast? Really?"
- dquail 14y agoYes, a lot of big companies were once ridiculous ideas. The founders where tenacious, and would have succeeded regardless of any synthesized hype. I argue there's more companies hurt because of this than there are that thrive.
- andyyang 14y agoThanks for the shout out David!
- dquail 14y agoYa, I've been meaning to reach out and connect with you personally for some time now :) <3 Extreme Startups!