Toronto Startup Expert: What Toronto's got that the Valley Can't Provide

http://www.port25.ca/2011/01/28/cultivating-torontos-sprouting-startups-interview-with-erin-bury/

by jennahoff • 15 years ago

12 25 15 years ago

cfinke• 15 years ago

Also, developers in Toronto (and all of Canada) don't have to worry about affording health insurance if they join a startup instead of some BigCorp, leaving talented engineers free to pursue the companies and causes that interest them rather than just the ones big enough to get insurance at a discount.

pmchiu• 15 years ago

True - but then the developers have to deal with higher taxes as a result of free health care.

I also think the effective corporate tax rate is higher too so that can causes issues.

matdwyer• 15 years ago

Well, hard to compare as it isn't really an easy process for a Canadian to just decide to go work in the USA instead of Canada to avoid the tax.

If you're a founder you're likely minimizing your "income" to almost zero to avoid as much tax as you can anyway.

waterside81• 15 years ago

As a startup founder and Torontonian, I was thinking that maybe I've been missing something, judging from the headline. And then I read the article and it's kind of a puff piece. More an advertorial for Erin Bury than anything else.

I had the good fortune of meeting a high profile VC in the Valley in November and when I told him we were in Toronto, he said "OK, here's my first piece of advice. Move to the Valley."

I wish that wasn't the case because Toronto is awesome, but you can't compare it to SV when it comes to volume of activity, talent density or the echo-chamber that can hype your picture-sharing app up.

jpzeni• 15 years ago

I love Canada, I love Toronto and I love entrepreneurship. I run a small startup in Toronto and I must admit that comparing Toronto to Silicon Valley is a joke. Toronto isn't even the best place in Canada to work on a startup and maybe not in the top 3.

It's nice that the community is tight knit and there is some good talent here but what is missing is really some of the most important stuff: 1. VC and Angel Money, 2. Connections and 3. A deep pool of startup oriented hackers

baham• 15 years ago

hi, I am considering moving to Canada from the Washington DC area. Where would you consider the most startup-friendly areas in Canada be?

cal5k• 15 years ago

Waterloo, Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto. Probably in that order.

iuygthn• 15 years ago

The nice thing about being a startup in Vancouver is you have really motivated staff

We keep an office in Toronto to send all the failures to - that really motivates people to succeed!

csel• 15 years ago

Getting sick and tired of articles talking about why ____ is better than the Valley. If it is better, please fucking show what product has come out of the place. Show something, don't just talk.

qq66• 15 years ago

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/images/news/blackberry7200.jpg

spitfire• 15 years ago

Watcom c++

Am I to old for HN now?

jjcm• 15 years ago

"What Toronto's got that the Valley Can't Provide"

Bandwidth caps?

electromagnetic• 15 years ago

The worlds longest commute... no, seriously!

truebosko• 15 years ago

Yes, if you live outside of Toronto and commute in, not if you're in the city.

jefe783• 15 years ago

We'd move to Toronto too if she was our CM!

trotsky• 15 years ago

I think Microsoft is pretty involved in the Toronto community. I see them sponsoring events and sometimes holding events, providing content, and the BizSpark program. The BizSpark program is the best way I’ve seen them help startups. I feel like people involved with BizSpark are really concerned with helping startups succeed.

blah, blah, blah microsoft ad.

Toronto Startup Expert: What Toronto's got that the Valley Can't Provide

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