In search of great Canadian CMOs!
We have an amazing, vibrant startup community here in Canada. And over the years, we have built many great success stories. Platespin, Oz Communications, Bumptop are just a few of the positive exits we have generated.
US investors have been active up here for a long time. And with section 116 being repealed (a silly withholding tax that made it painful for foreign investors to sell shares in Canadian companies), expect more US interest up North. Especially if valuations continue to climb in hot markets like Boston and the Valley. Our companies have lower operating costs and valuations (for better or worse) are lower than what you see in the Valley.
When US investors talk about the Canadian startup market, their thoughts are often along the following lines: Great technical talent, can build great products, lacking in goto market and management talent that has seen real scale.
My 1st reaction is to take offense to that. We are as smart and capable as anyone regardless of our location.
Still, I have to admit, that when I look at the startups I know that are entering the growth phase, their biggest issue is building a marketing team that has delivered huge user and revenue bases before. Where are the great marketing leaders that can take our startups to the next level?
Freshbooks is looking for a CMO now. Check out the job description! This is the profile of a rock star and company maker. This is the standard we need to set up here. So, if you are a proven marketer and know how to deliver growth, I want to hear from you and promise you I can find a number of amazing startups that could use your talents.
+1 for a good CMO
It seems that Americans have more natural, inherited entrepreneurial spirit. It probably roots back to its origins of independence and liberty established in the late 1700's. And Canada…. well, we were just a big British colony.
Another reason: American business owners have always had an enormous national market to engage. Obviously the same could not be said about Canada's sparse population. So its only been in the last two decades, with the advent of the web, that Canadian entrepreneurs have had access to scale like this. We're still getting used to it ! Meanwhile, Americans have been playing a big game for a while.
Some of us though, have learned from the Americans – and we have adopted and adapted to the new global landscape of business. THESE are they guys you want to find ! Goodluck.
Some cities / countries have entrepreneurialism in their DNA; the US is amazing for that, and anyone who has visited Silicon Valley will tell you that the buzz of success / ambition is in the air. I think that's something we have to work on in Canada.
I will say that people tend to forget that in years past, Canada has dominated certain "startup" industries such as visual effects. We are / were home to Alias, Wavefront, SoftImage, Discreet Logic, among others. Also let's not forget the ex-Montrealers who moved to LA to start Nothing Real, and sold it to Apple a short while after. While nobody likes to talk about it, Canadian techies had / have a huge role in online porn and gambling as well.
One thing that is desperately missing is serious big thinking combined with a certain amount of warranted brashness… granted it's rare anywhere, but given our enormous technical talent, it would be nice to see some Canadian entrepreneurs-to-be take their excellent skills and shed their "Nice Canadian" image to drive their vision.
Great comments Aaron. You are right, we have had some huge successes in Canada. And Montreal is clearly a hub for gaming, graphics, etc.
I wonder if the stereotype is changing and we just don't know it yet. There are over 100,000 Canadians now living and working in the Valley (c100.org). So either they have changed their personalities, or had that in their DNA all along.