

Alexis Ohanian interviewed after talk at Waterloo - michaelrlitt
https://www.communitech.ca/alexis-ohanian-praises-waterloo-startup-community-at-techtoberfest/

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buro9
Cached version

[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https:/...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.communitech.ca/alexis-
ohanian-praises-waterloo-startup-community-at-
techtoberfest/&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&strip=1)

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thearsenal
Another live version here (non-cached)
[http://hyperdrive.communitech.ca/blog/posts/alexis-
ohanian-m...](http://hyperdrive.communitech.ca/blog/posts/alexis-ohanian-
meets-his-waterloo-and-loves-it)

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philip1209
I organized a talk by Ohanian at my university last week. His talk focused on
entrepreneurship, and key points included that innovation can happen outside
the valley, and that midwest startups are starving for engineers, so we
shouldn't feel like we must flock to the valley to join a startup.

~~~
kn0thing
Woo! Full recap of Internet2012 Bus Tour here:
[http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/reddit-hits-
road-14444...](http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/reddit-hits-road-144446)

And this: [http://www.buzzfeed.com/jwherrman/why-is-this-man-running-
fo...](http://www.buzzfeed.com/jwherrman/why-is-this-man-running-for-
president-of-the-inter)

~~~
philip1209
Hey! I know you! Thanks for the email this morning.

I forgot to mention that Innovation was misspelled on the poster you have been
having everybody sign.

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kn0thing
Whoa! Good catch. On the giant scroll?

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philip1209
Yes, I saw that at T-REx while you were presenting. There was a missing "n,"
if I recall correctly.

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thearsenal
I was at the hub for this discussion. Alexis is an awesome, down to earth guy,
and had a lot of valuable wisdom to share on starting a company.

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yesimahuman
I've heard SV investors agree it makes sense for companies to stay near a top
notch university no matter where it is, in order to hire and retain the best.
It's the same talent that SV companies get anyways. Coupled with a lower cost
of living and less poaching, it's kind of a win-win.

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prostoalex
Most people in Waterloo dream of getting out of Waterloo.

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jmj4
Being a Waterloo engineer, I agree with this wholeheartedly. Perhaps even more
importantly, I'd say the top talent disproportionatly dreams of getting out of
Waterloo. Most quality students want to get down to Cali.

I respect what Litt, Pebble, Bufferbox are trying to do, but I don't think
young talent is the reason their doing it. I think that the cost of living,
tax credits and familiarity are the reasons they're back in Waterloo.

All the power to me, but for me, California sunshine seems too good to pass up
when there's three feet of snow on the ground in the middle of February.

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michaelrlitt
Everyone should experience Silicon Valley. Vidyard's investors and network of
influence are SV based. I'll never negate that.

Reasons I'm in Waterloo = Availability of Talent, Retention of Talent, Cost of
living, Quality of Life

We've never had an issue with young, technical talent and I firmly believe
that we have the best. That's more that can be said for our Californa based
batch-mates.

Some people like the snow ;).

~~~
jmj4
I'm just running off personal experience here (I've been through the Velocity
Residence and Eng), but of the 10 smartest kids I know, all but one is in The
Valley/Seattle. I think they plan to stay South after graduation.

Why do you think you can you get better talent? Less competition? People want
to be closer to home? You can offer more in perks, salary, ect compared to
local companies?

Ps. Sick boots in that lederhosen picture.

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michaelrlitt
You're experience is certainly common but might be changing. When did you
graduate?

Yes, Maybe, Yes. Great Engineers tend to be focused on solving interesting
problems with great people over warm-weather that they'll rarely enjoy.

Thanks - they're actually long socks :P

~~~
jmj4
I'm still in school; just finished 3A, so ive got a pretty fresh look at
things. It seems to me Waterloo's stature is rising in The Valley, and they
are offering more jobs. I had about 30-40% of my class go to Apple this
semester, for example.

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noirman
I've spent a couple of weeks at Communitech and the energy is absolutely
amazing. Everybody was incredibly driven.

If not mistaken, Communitech even claimed that "one new startup comes out from
there every day".

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rdrimmie
For somewhere around a year now, we've had an average of one new startup
registering with our Venture Services Group each day. I am struggling with the
correct way to be pedantic about it, it's just the connotation of "comes out"
that I want to highlight - the startups registering with us don't necessarily
meet any minimum requirements, versus those who graduate from one of the
incubation or accelerator programs we run or are associated with.

(I work for Communitech, but not in VSG so my understanding is likely to be
only slightly more refined than noirman's, and could have a hole or two)

(edit to add: we're working on fixing the site!)

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xutopia
Too bad the site is down. Alexis is really an insightful person. He really
understands the web.

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psycho
It's interesting how Alexis talks about the importance of the possibility to
"stay home and do great things" for some people. Well, sounds right but isn't
startup a thing that's all about change - including lifestyle? Isn't it
possible to have some valuable insights when you leave your comfort zone and
go some place you didn't know before? I'd rather advice Silicon Valley guys
just try and leave their cozy warm place and go and try to make a startup on
Alaska, for example - that's the kind of adventure for startup-guys, not for
sissies.

~~~
nchlswu
He's commenting more on the fact that SV seems to be the only place for
startups to thrive. There's lots of opportunity at "home".

in a way, it's in line with your desire to advise SV guys to leave their cozy
warm place. You may feel "safe" going to the valley, but you can (potentially)
achieve just as much breaking ground in a different locale.

~~~
psycho
I agree with the fact that there's lots of opportunity anywhere, although...
there maybe more opportunity in US than in Russia, for example. Anyway you got
to try and to do something - no matter where you live, that's true.

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jesseguild
Great to see Waterloo impressing such a talented dude

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leoc
No questions about the Reddit staff's relationship with violentacrez?

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xutopia
Pretty sure Alexis Ohanian had left Reddit by the time VA started messing
around.

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leoc
If nothing else one could ask him what he thinks of what the "early Reddit
employees" did in his absence. And isn't he still on Reddit's board of
directors, anyway?

