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I feel incredibly fortunate to live in Vancouver in which I am exposed to part of the Canadian Tech scene as I learn about OpenID, open ideas, and freeing wifi for all. As a grad student eager to be an early adopter, I feel that my desire to try new things is being hampered because I am north of the 49th parallel (no unlimited dataplans, SMS limits by Twitter, limits on the types of mobile phones available to me).
Props to the Canadian Tech people that are staying here, organising meetups, starting companies, and telling others about cool people and companies here.
On this day, I think it is appropriate to share the words of Martin Luther King Jr. that also have relevance to our circumstances.
"We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity."
Having done deals on both sides of the border I have to say that things rarely ever get done at the same pace. There's no wasting time in US to get a deal done. It seems like it always takes a fraction of the time down south.
Ultimately, if want to get it done you'll do it and keep on pushing ahead.
Now for the opposite.
Some people I know have come to Canada because it IS slower. I know of two highly successful entrepreneurs who have launched financial based business in Canada because it IS less competitive. You might compete against 5 people instead of 50 in the U.S. for the same deal. They're got their share of the market and they're successful.
As the global economy switch gets flipped to recession, those economies that nurture the mammals scurrying in the underbrush are those that are best positioned to adapt and remain resilient during the accelerating change of so-called "hypercapitalism".
BUT, in the past year, I've really noticed attitudes ARE changing. People ARE getting motivated. The best of Canadian culture, and the best of Silicon Valley culture are coming together to create the ultimate global tech hub. Technology in BC is already a bigger industry than Oil, Mining, and Forestry...combined!
As Canadians, we realize that we have to build our products for more than just Canada. So we think about the rest of the world, and last time I looked, the rest of the world is a hell of a lot bigger and growing faster than the US.
As a former Valley entrepreneur, I can tell you, we're closer than it seems, and getting closer every day. We just need more exposure (www.launchpartyhq.com) and help with funding (www.bootuplabs.com) and we're there.
Advise all to check out these PriceWaterHouseCoopers slides 32 through 50 highlighting the state of the VC nation in Canada: http://www.pwc.com/ca/eng/about/events/recs_cv2...
Slides 37 and 40 highlight the returns achieved by Canadian VCs (or lack of returns) and the amounts typically invested in Canadian venture backed companies vs. their US competitors (less than half).
http://shotfromthehip.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/...
For the most part, Canada is a nation of "it's not my problem" and "I'll let someone else do it". We continue to let big business and big government lead us down the cattle trail. We need to take the talent and diversity this country has to offer and start blazing new trails.
@Casey: Yep, I agree. Industries like entertainment can't afford to dilly dally either.
@Phillip: Great quote from MLK, very apt.
@Alex: Interesting. Were those companies focused on a local market, or a global one?
@Steven: I don't buy that you need to be in the US to build a great tech company. RIM, EA and others prove you can build really successful companies here. Heck, Skype was mostly from Estonia!
@Mark: I need to review all articles with you before I publish them, for proper policy wonk compliance like "competitive intensity". Also, "provincial" is my new favorite word to criticize small world thinking.
@Danny: Now I know the story of the mysterious dude working with Boris! :) I'm glad to hear that Vancouver is pushing ahead. I think some of our other cities need a kick in the backside.
@Stephen: Yes, it sounds like Canadian VCs aren't giving entrepreneurs enough runway to get their planes off the ground.
@Rebecca: You have to consistently break new ground. You can't just dig one hole and say "no oil here". Imagine if Texas or the Gulf oil countries took a Canadian attitude!
@Too scared: Thanks for sharing that info, very interesting to see the numbers on VC investment in Canada. Looks like we need our VCs to make bigger investments to give startups the capital they need to attract the best talent and give them enough runway.
@Thomas: Great post by Michele. I think the CBC is a totally other broken system, and one I'm not sure I want to help fix. From what I've been told by people on the inside, it's an organization full of people with the same kind of negativity and provincial thinking that's holding back our tech industry. I haven't found a silver bullet for old boys clubs yet, if anyone has one I'd love to hear about it.
Oh, Canada! I bet you might be able to get some South-of-the-Border help from your American neighbors if you want to give Canadian technology entrepreneurship a boost. Rally those Maple Leafers and see if you can convince a Yank to run the TSA gauntlet and join in the effort to bring Canada kicking and screaming into the tech game.
Best wishes,
Anthony Kuhn
When I was going through the first round of financing for my company, I could not for the life of me get Canadain investors interested. I ended up getting funding from a German firm and discovered that the majority of tech startups in my city (Victoria) had found funding outside Canada.
I would think that down the road, this lack of innovative investing will hurt our Country.
Read Andrea Mandel-Campbell's excellent book on the Canadian Business Community called "Why Mexicans don't drink Molson" for a depressing and revealing look at Canadian business culture.
We Canadians are spoiled with wealth of natural resources and a wealthy southern neighbor that allow us to be complacent and have a high GDP at the same time. Any other country behaving like us would get wacked!
Phil
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Mike