Would the Maple Syrup Mafia, please stand up?
Adjusting our own expectations as Canadians.
Canadian Legacy
First, a refreshing throwback to a Canadian advertising classic:
When this commercial first hit television screens across the North America, I was 6 years old. 17 years later, its surface-level description of Canada still hits all the typical notes: We champion our diversity, joke about living in igloos, say we all speak English and French (unless you’re like me and you live in Canada-Lite a.k.a. British Columbia), and definitely sew Canadian flags on our backpacks as we travel. As Canadians, we have inherited a hard-earned legacy from our predecessors of being friendly, polite, open, and downright good people. Speaking from my own travel experiences, the essence of being Canadian is always evident to me when I answer the inevitable “Where are you from?” question with ““Canada!”; and am greeted with an instant spark in people’s eyes, usually coupled with something along the lines of “I love Canadians!”
But alas, the irony of this commercial comes a few years after Joe Canadian’s triumphant proclamation of identity at the turn of the century: In 2005, Molson Brewery (Canadian owned and operated since 1786) merged with US-based Coors to form the Molson Coors Brewing Company.
A smart business move at the time undoubtedly, but revealing nonetheless of another part of what it means to be Canadian: living in the shadow of our neighbours below the 49th parallel.
Follow the numbers.
This year marks Canada’s 150th birthday, and turns out we’re aging more gracefully than ever. Though it can be tough share a border with neighbours like the United States, we happen to have quite a few things going for us (99 Reasons according to MacLean’s).
In a nutshell, here’s 5 key takeaways on how Canadians are awesome:
- We live longer: Canadians born today will live an average of three years longer than Americans (81 years in Canada versus 78.7 south of the border).
- We’re better educated: 48.3 per cent of Canadians have a post-secondary degree, compared to 40.3 per cent in the U.S.
- We’re more fit: The percentage of American adults who are obese is 35.9. In Canada, it’s 24.2.
- More of our immigrants strike it rich: In both the U.S. and Canada the majority of millionaires are self-made, but a larger number in Canada are immigrants, according to a BMO study.
- We’re more satisfied with our lives: According to the Better Life Index, an international quality of life comparison by the OECD each year, Canadians enjoy a higher level of life satisfaction than Americans,
Now let’s juxtapose all those reasons we’re awesome against some of our stats in the tech world.
5 key stats about Canadian startups, founders, and tech achievements:
- A precedent of acquisition: In the past five years, 183 Canadian companies have been acquired, nearly 70 per cent by U.S. firms. (Not that they failed — quite the contrary actually, many deals are extremely lucrative. E.g. Toronto-based Eloqua’s acquisition by Oracle for a reported $871-million in 2012.) Link.
- Start the getaway car: According to this recent PwC study, 77 per cent of Canadian tech founders are currently planning an exit for their company. Nearly two-thirds, or 63 per cent, said that exit plan is to sell, most within the next few years.
- Brain drain : An estimated 350,000 Canadians now live and work in the the San Francisco Bay area. As a reminder, that’s one percent of Canada’s entire population
- Mighty dollar: Canadian VCs invested about $1.9-billion into 379 startups in 2014 (compared with $48.3-billion invested by U.S. investors).
- We have Narwhals, not Unicorns: There are only 4.5 Canadian-grown billion-dollar companies: HootSuite, Shopify, Kik, Aviglon, and Slack*.
*Slack is technically a unicorn as well.
The PayPal Mafia
Meet the gatekeepers of Silicon Valley: The PayPal Mafia.
In 2002, PayPal sold to eBay for $1.5 Billion. A tale that has been told the world over; it was truly the inciting incident for the plot of Silicon Valley’s Cinderella story. These 19 men, former founders, employees, and partners at PayPal, have reached notoriety. A who’s who of the tech world, they have gone on to found, fund, work at, or help spark a few modest companies you may have heard of: Facebook, AirBnb, YouTube, Yelp, Palantir, and Stripe, to name just a few.
Their track record is nothing short of extraordinary. An interactive tool breaks down what each of these men has gone on to be involved with in the Golden Age of technology. People the likes of Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Max Levchin need no introduction, but the achievements of the rest are also stellar: all have gone on to shape the world we know today. On a personal note, I probably interact with something that one of the PayPal Mafia helped bring to life at least once every single day; whether it be checking LinkedIn, falling into the Reddit vortex, or watching Kendrick Lamar’s latest video on YouTube.
Is there room for a Maple Syrup Mafia?
Yes, yes there is.
Ryan Holmes (CEO/Founder at HootSuite) penned a 2013 piece in Fortune, declaring “The Rise of the Maple Syrup Mafia.”
In his words:
“Why does Silicon Valley get to have a monopoly on innovation? Why aren’t new tech mafias springing up elsewhere? The Internet radically decentralized information and ideas. So why is startup success still confined mainly to one corner of California?
[…] So what’s standing in the way of a brand new tech mob — a Maple Syrup Mafia — taking hold right in my backyard and turning Vancouver into the next global tech hub? Well, to be honest, there are a few hurdles.”(Source: Fortune)
The hurdles come down to three key things: Silicon Valley and US Investors have more capital to invest, there is a larger concentration of talent in the States, and Canadian founders and tech professionals often face the very valid temptation to “sell out” and move to the US to grow their business/career/etc.
But the good news is, Canadians are waking up and trusting their own ambitions. No region, city, or country has a monopoly on ideas and drive in the vessel of a capable entrepreneur.
The reason I started this blog and newsletter is because I wanted a place to for non-diluted highlights of Canadian technology achievement. I’m calling it The UnderDog because in this story, this story of Canadian founders, innovators, and leaders; we need to stop putting Silicon Valley and the PayPal Mafia’s of the world on a pedestal.
The reality is that there are hundreds of thousands of Canadians who are accomplishing great feats south of the border and abroad. There are also countless Canadians pushing innovation forward on home soil: I want the UnderDog to be a place to highlight all of these achievements. In the past year, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so many young founders and leaders who have the ambition and drive that could go toe-to-toe with any Ivy Leaguer out there: I hope to make the UnderDog a collaborative space for lessons, achievements, and thoughts for Canadians pushing our innovations forward.
Back to what my friend Joe Canadian ended on in what’s still, to me, a classic Molson Canadian commercial. He says, so eloquently, that “Canada is the 2nd largest country in the world, the first place for hockey, and the best part of North America!” I concur, Joe.
