[karamdeep]

What a ridiculous statement. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of challenges that entrepreneurs encounter when starting or scaling a business here, but it's time to stop using the crutch of VC/Government/Telecom interference to support the assertion that Canada is "an absolutely horrible place to do a technology start up. The bottom line is that if you still think this is the case, you haven't been paying attention to what's been happening over the past few years in this country. Do the names Fixmo, Shopify, Achievers, Accedian Networks or BeyondTheRack ring a bell? How about HootSuite or FreshBooks? A Thinking Ape, Vidyard, Allerta, Upverter, Enflick, GoInstant, Wave Accounting, Well.ca, Chango...the list goes on and on - all world class companies run by entrepreneurs who spend their time executing, not complaining. Radian6 and Q1Labs sold for almost $1B combined - is that large enough for you??? Last time I checked none of those companies were being sued by RIM, being squeezed out of SR&ED credits by oil companies or being held in check by Rogers/Bell/Telus. We (iNovia Capital) have even funded some of them, and are proud to stand behind them and every other entrepreneur in Canada who are working their asses off to prove you wrong.

[wavephorm]

I am speaking from my personal experience. None of the Canadian investment firms, or incubator even replied to my emails, let alone give any reasonable valuation. The Canadian YC-copycat incubators seem more like vultures that scoop 25% equity for $50K in seed funding which is pretty ridiculous compared to what you can can get in the US. I was denied SR&ED and am currently in the process of receiving venture capital and moving my startup, and all the technology I've developed, to California far away from this abysmal environment.

[abrichr]

I think you need to distinguish between the types of startups that are encouraged in Canada and in the US. For example, the MaRS (Medical and Related Science) Discovery District (http://www.marsdd.com/) is the largest incubator of its kind in the world.

[reso]

Canadian VCs suck, no question. That's why most good Canadian start-ups have investors from the valley.

[karamdeep]

Most Canadian start-ups that have investors from the Valley also have investors from Canada.

[reso]

This is true, but they're usually local angels, not VCs.

[karamdeep]

One bad experience should not tarnish an entire national ecosystem. There are incubators like GrowLabs and FoundersFuel who offer terms that are on par or better than YC, and there are investment firms that have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into Canadian startups over the past few years, and SR&ED claims seem to function smoothly for all our portfolio companies. I obviously don't know the details of your particular case, but don't mistake it for the status quo.

[ak2012]

karamdeep perhaps everything looks great because you are on the other side of the table... and not creating a startup yourself...

[wavephorm]

Well that's nice for them, but for me I’ve received a much warmer welcome from Silicon Valley, including first class flights, an office, and funding for several years of development.

[ak2012]

agreed! York Angeles, ONE Network et al, 25% for $25k... what a joke. Not to mention the lack of investments in Consumer-centric startups... Valleys the way to go.