zlacker

>>wavela+(OP)
When walking around the U of Toronto, I often think that ~10 years ago Ilya was in a lab next to Alex trying to figure things out. I can't believe this new AI wave started there. Ilya, Karpathy, Jimmy Ba, and many more were at the right time when Hinton was there too.

>>snowby+Sx
And none of them build AI companies in Toronto.

I’m Canadian and disappointed at how ineffective we are at building successful companies.

>>izend+Yx
I've thought about this one for a long time having lived in both SV and Canada. It is a complicated one but there are a handful of critical road blocks in Canada that make it more challenging.

(1) Access to size of market even if online being US vs 'foreign' has advantages in political arena/regulatory benefits

(2) Significant tax advantages for US investors vs limited tax advantages for Canada (Angel+VC)

(3) Risk Appetite (impacted by size of market) - compounded by tax disadvantages (why would you take risk if your lining the pockets of the government?)

(4) Bench depth on talent once you really start to scale your company

(5) CAD strength (double edged sword) - talent goes South for better salaries (+ you need to compete), if the company revenue is in USD and employees are paid in CAD

(6) Start-ups paying in equity, early employees taking on that risk actually will get taxed heavily under new cap gains so the incentive to work hard for money is lower.

(7) Network effects of being in the valley - idea percolation, new playbooks, talent, competitiveness, company fitness

I will add that in this very specific AI case there is limited way you are going to find the depth of talent and capital in the country to make that company fly at the scale it needs to be.

>>boring+Mx1
if the idea that high taxes disincentivizes people from building stuff, california would be a wasteland.

but that's not what we see. people build because they still have a chance a making a lot of money.

also, like canada can build successfully tech companies. yes, I realize there should be more canadian tech darlings, but I don't think it has to do with high taxes so much as it has to do with Canadians being comfortable and not feeling the need to sacrifice everything to try and build the biggest thing.

If you look at Canada's most successful tech companies, the founders usually sell and enjoy a more comfortable existence.

>>jpalaw+XD1
I think it has much more to do with investors' sentiments. Canadian entrepreneurs are not comfortable; that's why they move to the US. But that's not because they don't like Canada. Moving is a big sacrifice -- they move away from their home and community, and also deal with the headache and uncertainty of US immigration. The ones I talk to who have moved down south, they miss Canada and didn't want to leave, but they didn't feel like they'd be able to afford the cost of living in Canada, and didn't think they could launch a successful startup there.

And the cost of living is going up, which is going to make even more talented Canadians uncomfortable. These days if you ever hope to own a house, you basically can't go the stable 9-to-5 route.

If investors in Canada were throwing hundreds of millions into moonshot startups the way that they do in Silicon Valley, probably most Canadian entrepreneurs would build those companies at home. But the investment landscape is such that the investors who have that much money opt to lever up on real estate instead.