Toronto is a strange startup town. Sort of like New York, but without any of the VC money. High cost of living; without the salaries that come with it. Which leads to a strange phenomenon: agencies that are a cornerstone of a tech community.
A strange startup town indeed.
Two years later in 2015 and not much has changed. Raising capital in Toronto is difficult, cost of living is on the rise, and while starting engineering salaries are higher than most positions in Toronto, they’re ho-hum at best when compared to our neighbours down south. To top it all off, many engineers in Toronto would rather take “risk free” positions at agencies over starting or joining a startup.
Agencies
Let me start by saying something. I don’t like agencies. It’s nothing personal and nobody in particularly, but more of what they represent in Toronto’s longstanding tech landscape. Because of the issues mentioned above, they hire developers like no tomorrow and most of them never look back.
I’m pretty certain many engineers in Toronto have thought of doing their own startup at one point or another but end up getting complacent. It’s easy to fall into a comfy job and think of startups as nothing but a pipe dream, and they wouldn’t be crazy to think that. After all, 9 out of 10 startups fail and those are not the most enticing odds. It may sound cliche but I believe that what you learn from failure is more valuable than taking the road more travelled. Toronto just seems to have fallen into a risk averse state and doesn’t look at failure as a badge of honour in the same way that many from Silicon Valley tout it.
Tab Life
It’s been just over a year and a half now since working at Tab and it’s definitely been filled with its share of ups and downs. The trough of sorrow is real and a rocky climb out, but it’s been more rewarding than any regular 9 to 5 job I’ve had so far.
When Teehan+Lax shut down early this year I was both saddened yet happy for them. They were one of the agencies in Toronto that seemed to be doing everything right, building quality products for Yahoo and even this fancy little blogging platform Medium. What it signaled to me was that one cannot truly succeed in Toronto and that the ultimate goal is to move on to greener pastures. Is this true? I sure as hell hope not.
Here’s what I know. Working at a startup is hard. It’s also more fulfilling work than what you’ll get in most any tech job in Toronto. At Tab we all collectively own our product and take pride in what we’ve built as a small startup without any big VC money (which we certainly want one day). We have strongly defined roles but are all prepared to wear multiple hats everyday. It’s an accelerated learning experience like no other where you won’t get locked down to a project taking meetings and building products for the highest bidder.
I’ve traveled to a lot of countries and firmly believe that Toronto is one of the greatest cities in the world. I can’t say that I haven’t thought of moving on to “greener pastures” at one point or another, but what’s actually better in Toronto? There’s a strong demand for engineering talent by agencies and enterprise companies alike right now. Of course they offer more salary, but nothing significant and so I’ve turned them down and have never looked back. Those jobs won’t be going away anytime soon anyways (although I’m not sure they’d hire me after this post ╮(. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)╭).
Taking the Leap
Here’s where we are now. Our co-founder practiced law, got called to the bar, then quickly realized that life wasn’t for him. Our head of operations left a high paying consulting job to make the leap to startup life. Our backend engineer left an agency to have ownership and the freedom to build the way he saw fit. I’ve moved on from my own failed startup for a new calling.
We have the core needed to succeed and wish more people in Toronto would take that leap once presented. Not just to join Tab, but to take the risk to build something new or take part with someone who is. Toronto is a long ways away from being the Silicon Valley of the north but there’s no reason it can’t be in time. Here’s hoping for more innovation and less time building apps for Loblaws, Cineplex and the like.
Full disclosure. Yes, Tab is currently hiring.
