[Photo from Georgette Packaging]
Despite the Waterloo-Region being commonly known as 'The Silicon Vally of the North' (*some active within the tech sector actually hate that term and believe that the Waterloo Region shouldn't even be compared to the valley), there have been a number of companies founded within the region, but have left this entrepreneurial community and move ship to the San Francisco Bay Area. The list goes on: Redwood City, Cupertino, Palo Alto, etc., there is an abundance of tech companies located in the valley among tech giants such as Google, Facebooks/Instagram, Snapchat, Uber, and Airbnb.
A number of my friends have done co-ops in Silicon Valley, working at companies like Facebook, Apple, and Google. They said that the wages were much higher when compared to similar jobs in Toronto/KW, but when you take into account rent, food, and transportation, you end up with the same amount as you would in Toronto/KW. They said they decided to work there to get that experiences and learn what the culture in like within The Bay Area and within large tech giants to see if that is something that they want to do after graduating. One of my friends who I've worked with in the part is Cole Jones, Founder and CEO of Local Line (and Laurier Alumnus). He said that when he went to San Francisco for meetings with VCs, prospects, and companies, that people there love walking meetings. They don't sit down at a restaurant or coffee shop, they like to walk with you from place to place. To Jones, everything there is fast-paced and go-go-go, especially compared to the startups and other tech companies within the Waterloo Region.
[Sam Altman: President at YCombinator, VC, entrepreneur]
However, there are a number of local companies that leave KW for The States. Located in Mountain View, CA lies YCombinator (YC) - a prestigious incubator, providing seed funding to top startups. The "bootcamp" runs twice a year, 3 months at a time and works with startups on their ideas/products. These entrepreneurs are supported by investors and executives from Silicon Valley and at the end of the bootcamp, they pitch at Demo Day in from of some of the world's most successful tech investors. There's been a number of startups from the Waterloo Region that were accepted into YC including Thalmic Labs, BufferBox, Pebble, Vidyard, PiinPoint, Georgette Packaging, and Lace. The founder(s) moved their companies to Mountain View for at least 3 months, some did not return to Kitchener-Waterloo. YC helped many of these companies shape who they are and develop their products. Some globally-known companies that "graduated" from YC include Airbnb, Stripe, Reddit, and Dropbox.
[Co-Founder and CEO at Vidyard, Mike Litt]
["Canada's Biggest Startup Champion," Razor Suleman]
On the other hand, Razor Suleman (Laurier BBA '99) founded Achievers (formerly I Love Rewards) - a software company that helps engage employees and drives performance globally. One of the most well-known venture capital firms, Sequoia Capital backed his company. In total, from six investors, Suleman raised $52.42 million in 5 rounds, later selling his company to BlackHawk Network. I saw Razor speak at a tech/entrepreneurship conference in Toronto a year ago and he mainly talked about his journey and the lack of venture capital in Canada. He moved his company to the Bay Area for the marketing and sales talent, for greater opportunities with VC funding, and to scale up the company globally. Once Achiever was acquired, he moved his family back to Canada saying, "we're Canadian by choice." A reason why he moved back was because of the community here and how he wanted to help build and give back to it (Soltys, 2016). But at the talk I attended that Suleman spoke at, he mentioned that the main reason he didn't grow his business in Toronto or KW was because of the lack of venture capital here. He showed a visual diagram of all the large VC firms and the amount of funding they had given out, comparing Canada and the U.S. Suleman wants to see Canadian tech companies grow and is waiting for the next big thing saying, "It's our time for Canadian tech."
Works Cited
Achievers | CrunchBase. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2017. <https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/achievers#/entity>.
"About Y Combinator." About Y Combinator. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2017. <https://www.ycombinator.com/about/>.
Canal, Emily. "The 20 Least Affordable Places To Live In The U.S." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 24 June 2016. Web. 17 Feb. 2017. <https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilycanal/2016/06/24/the-20-least-affordable-places-to-live-in-the-u-s/#3d2208d94e9e>.
Dingman, Shane. "Waterloo tech startups absent from Y Combinator's roster." The Globe and Mail. Waterloo, Ont. — The Globe and Mail, 20 July 2015. Web. 14 Feb. 2017. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/waterloo-tech-startups-absent-from-y-combinators-roster/article25595601/>.
Pender, Terry. "Vidyard CEO wants techies to love downtown Kitchener." Vidyard CEO wants techies to love downtown Kitchener. Waterloo Region Record, 09 Jan. 2017. Web. 17 Feb. 2017. <http://www.therecord.com/news-story/7055594-vidyard-ceo-wants-techies-to-love-downtown-kitchener/>.
Soltys, Douglas. "One year after returning home, Razor Suleman remains Canada's biggest startup champion." BetaKit. N.p., 31 Aug. 2016. Web. 17 Feb. 2017. <http://betakit.com/one-year-after-returning-home-razor-suleman-continues-to-be-canadas-biggest-startup-champion/>.
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Difficult to compete with California based on climate...summer every day of the year. Nice. However, the social environment -- crowded, full of tourists in large cities, and the sky high cost of living and commuting times are draw backs; certainly if looking to raise a family I would think. Some research suggests women find it more difficult to get established in Silicon valley as well.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/02/26/new_study_says_silicon_valley_isn_t_promised_land_for_women_in_technology.html
Very true! My great grandfather was born and raised in San Francisco and my mom used to go every summer. She would never stop talking about how nice the weather was, especially compared to Calgary and Toronto. I went when I was a baby, but went back in 2011, so I was fortunate enough to experience the sunny state myself and the climate is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I would love to live there (my mom said she'd move in with me), you are completely right with the social environment. I think the main factor would be the costs and commute. Not only is San Francisco one of the most expensive cities to live in The United States, but many of the tech companies aren't located right in San Francisco, they're located in Cupertino, Redwoods City, Palo Alto, etc. One of my friends works at Facebook and he commutes 1.5-2 hours/day to get from his apartment to the office. And even if you lived and worked right in the city, because the streets are very hill-y, driving would be another new thing to adjust to.
Especially being a woman, it is difficult everywhere, but from others around me, they said it is a much larger issue to be established, and to be respected and treated the same as men in Silicon Valley. There's this really awesome page I found on Facebook a while back called 'Women of Silicon Valley' if you're interested! https://www.facebook.com/womenofsiliconvalley/