

Toronto Startup Expert: What Toronto's got that the Valley Can't Provide - jennahoff
http://www.port25.ca/2011/01/28/cultivating-torontos-sprouting-startups-interview-with-erin-bury/

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cfinke
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.

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pmchiu
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.

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matdwyer
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.

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

Bandwidth caps?

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electromagnetic
The worlds longest commute... no, seriously!

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

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trotsky
_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.

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waterside81
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.

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jpzeni
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

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

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cal5k
Waterloo, Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto. Probably in that order.

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cmer
If it matters, there's currently A LOT of money in Montreal. VC funds are full
and they're desperately looking for deals. If you have a decent team with a
decent idea, they'll just throw money your way.

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jefe78
Any specific funds? We're on the cusp of that next step and the info would be
great to have.

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cmer
Real Ventures holds a big bag of money right now... <http://realventures.com/>

If you're ever in Montreal, let me know, I might be able to help.

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jefe78
We're actually in Ottawa right now, but we're anticipating a move to Montreal
real soon! Whats the best way to contact you?

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cmer
Send me an email at carl at carl mercier.

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csel
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.

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qq66
<http://www.geekzone.co.nz/images/news/blackberry7200.jpg>

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jefe78
We'd move to Toronto too if she was our CM!

