NewYork City is becoming an alternative for many tech companies to 'start up' and thrive and this may be because Silicon Valley is becoming too populated and expensive for new tech companies to grow. According to the article, the growth of NewYork city is due to some reasons like,
"the rise of several prominent startups, including Foursquare and the crowdfunding site Kickstarter; the arrival of venture-backed accelerator programs to help young startups get off the ground; a pool of engineers who have come to or stayed in the city as companies like Facebook and Twitter built offices in New York; and moves by New York City’s government to encourage tech innovation" (Metz, 2012).Being in a place that has the presence of tech companies and a vast amount of software engineers or people that are tech savvy, there is likelihood for growth. But how big can Silicon Alley get? And how long will it be a tech hub?
Looking at it from Canadian perspective, Waterloo to be exact, there may be a presence of engineers, government encouragement and so on, but there are not that many 'prominent start ups' present and without that, this Silicon Valley North cannot grow the way it should.
Another key thing the article talks about is investments; a lot of these startups in NewYork are getting investors to help build their companies, its not comparable to that in San Fransisco, but it is aiding the tech hub in NY. The more investors a company or group of companies have, the more growth can occur, and when that happens, the whole network grows with it.
Another reason of NY's tech growth is because of the presence of a variety of resources- there is good publicity, a lot of people and a lot of people willing to spend.
What do you think are the ways in which Waterloo or Canada as a whole can become a bigger tech hub?
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/428774/the-rise-of-the-new-york-startup-scene/
We have to look at what unique attributes Waterloo has. Combined with the Canadian dollar against the US, along with a much lower cost of setting up we should be positioned well to compete for companies looking to stand up in New York. More promotion of the area I think, including success stories to date, and coverage of the talent available should get some attention. The investors will follow the innovation entrepreneurs regardless of the locale I'm guessing.
ReplyDeleteIn my mind, Waterloo is literally the perfect place for innovation. With a smaller population than Toronto (and substantially smaller than NYC!!), Waterloo provides start-ups and hopeful entrepreneurs with a landscape that will foster primary development and growth. On the other hand, NYC does make for a great hub since, as you mention, "people are willing to spend"- and they better be willing to spend considering the sky high price of just about everything. But, I think we would be impressed with how much people are willing to spend and invest on Canadian start-ups since the Waterloo Region has proven itself worthy of their funds.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post, I decided to seek out additional information regarding Waterloo’s potential to thrive as a region in the technological development field. My main research question was, "Is waterloo a good place for tech start-ups?" This was mainly because I am curious in the literature surrounding this topic, and I wanted to share more factual and reliable information to this discussion. Following my research, I landed upon an article called, "Why Waterloo, Ontario, Is the Silicon Valley of Canada" By Zoe Henry.
ReplyDeleteThe main points of the article, is that Waterloo is very small in comparison to major cities such as New York, Toronto, or San Francisco. For this reason, it is easily pushed aside when entrepreneurs, investors, or employees choose a location that will ensure profitable returns. In addition, Waterloo is generally unknown to the world, with a population of just 550,000. However, it provides a home to 1,100 new ventures. These statistics lead to the conclusion that “apart from Silicon Valley, Waterloo has the highest start-up density of any area globally” (Henry).
Waterloo is best-known as the birthplace of smartphone maker BlackBerry. During Blackberry’s prime in 2008, it had a market capital of over $80 billion and nearly 20,000 employees (Henry). Therefore, in order to pull attention to Waterloo as a promising location for future start-ups and business growth, we need to publicize its past success, current state, and future potential to the world. This article I found is doing just this by stating three reasons to choose the Waterloo region as your prime location for your business implementation: a collaborative environment, entrepreneurial community is highly supported by the local government, and plenty of tech talent.
To learn more about these three reasons, read the article at http://www.inc.com/zoe-henry/waterloo-startup-hot-spot.html
Feeding off of Rachel's comment, due to the success of Blackberry in the past I think that is what Waterloo is associated with on top of being a university town. Not so much Canada, but focusing on Waterloo I think it definitely has the potential to become a bigger tech hub. In addition to space, countless students looking for work post grad, and the low start up costs because it isn't a major city there is even more possibility for success. Not to mention, if there are failure costs - they would be lower than if they were in a large city such as Toronto or NewYork. Furthermore, the use of advertising and success stories such as those from Laurier entrepreneurs will grab the attention of investors and can potential turn Waterloo into the new and improved Silicon Valley.
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