I'm a proud Canadian founder and It's sad to say this. But if you are a young first-time founder in Canada who wants to build a venture-backed startup, the best piece of advice that I can share would be - just bring your passport and laptop and go to San Francisco. Just find any local startup events. All the founders/investors/clients that you tried so hard to connect and schedule a coffee chat with - you can often just bump into them at the right event. Choosing where to build your startup is very important. It influences what opportunities you see, who you build a business with, whether your clients can trust you, and how hard it is to raise. Most importantly, you will be always around people with the mindset - those that have exited their startups before can give you a direction on the journey, and those that haven't yet or even failed can still inspire you to keep going.
Shawn Pang Are there services that provide temp residency for founders in San Francisco?
All very valid. As a not-so-young founder with a family the FOMO on this hits hard. As much as I wish I could uproot my family that’s not an option.
What kind of startup do you own? I feel this way about fashion brands, but didn't realize it was this way with other industries. I wish there was more support here.
So sad that it has been this way :(
Yup, SF, Austin, NYC or LA are constantly buzzing with energy, new ideas, the smartest people and the most daring companies.
Totally agree Shawn Pang - so many of our Vancouver founder friends have done the same
there definitely should be a shoe string budget version of this answer for the bootstrapping founders out there 😅
But incorporate in Delaware :)
This is such valuable advice! 🌟 I'm curious, what was the most surprising benefit you experienced when you made the move to San Francisco? How did it impact your startup journey? 🚀
Founder, CEO + Chief Scientist @ Prof of Wall Street | Finance AI | Behavioral Economics |
2wOh oh. Are you saying Vancouver isn't an investment hotbed for fintechs? Good thing I have a US passport ;)