Agree it's a good analysis. What I wonder is why the fog creek people didn't pursue that path(building Trello into more of a platform) as opposed to taking the exit. I mean it appears that it was quite a good exit for them, but there not "starving artists" and they definitely have the chops to build the product out, so why not?
A recent report by Tech North argues that a technology and innovation supercluster in this southern Ontario region would spark Canadian innovation and attract talent and capital from around the world. The report identifies the current gaps the region lacks ( ] risk capital, ] access experienced talent, ] absence of customers for new products ] homegrown champions ) and the assets it posesses ( ] world-leading technical talent, ] outstanding entrepreneurs, ] game-changing ideas, ] excellent research universties, ] cities, ] diverse population ). A concrete blueprint has been developed which identifies the need to double down on two emerging forces of disruption – artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Concludes that the supercluster would drive productivity and growth across Canada with potential econmic benefits of 17.5B increase in GDP and > 170K quality jobs.
Some promises, ex "Bring in 25K Syrian refugees by end of 2015" is considered "Broken" for the purposes of the "Promise Tracker" but the government actually did bring in 25K refugees and counting, they didnt hit the 25K mark until sometime in 2016-02.
So, keep in mind that while that promise may be 'technically broken', they pretty much did what they said they were going to do.
> he didn't mention anything that you can't find on the first page of a cliffs notes on quantum physics
ummm, i think the idea was to give a "cliff's notes/ELI5" explanation of the subject
If you watched the video[0], a reporter asked a question about a political issue but prefaced his question with a sarcastic question along the lines of "I was going to ask you to explain quantum computing < chuckle, chuckle > When do think Canada's ISIS mission will ...."
When Trudeau answered the question, I think many were somewhat surprised.
American: huh, guns are great, healthcare IF you can afford it, language #2 = spanish, hockey is a sport they play in Canada, worlds most powerful military, Trump, avg. American knows little about Canada, metric system - who needs that, good universities
Canadian: eh, no guns allowed, healthcare FREE for all, language #2 = french, hockey is the 2nd most popular religion, neighbors with country with worlds most powerful military - they'll have our back, no Trump, avg Canadians knows a little about America, metric system, good universities - taxpayer subsidized
Agree with you 100%, but they are. And a good portion of those are in downtown or in the city proper. Why? I can see if your an Amazon or Microsoft and need to hire 100+ developers but the majority of Vancouver startups need nowhere near that many people. Why would you locate your startup in Vancouver?
> who says cities have to allow Chinese investment to dominate the market rather than the people who live in these cities?
Vancouver's dirty little secret is that the real estate market IS the economy.
If restrictions were placed on foreign investment and this RE bubble burst, the city/region would be in for a world of hurt.
If you know what $30 oil is doing to our neighboring provinces, you would get an idea of what the future holds for Vancouver without it's "foreign investment" fix.
> Or we have more remote jobs, and/or satellite offices.
So much this. Especially for the "tech industry". A good portion of Vancouver's startups and tech companies are "downtown". Why not move out of the core? Why not add a satellite office somewhere affordable? Why not start to offer remote work options?
This is not an industry where you need to be physically present to get the job done, for the most part, yet the tech companies here(and elsewhere) aren't/don't seem to be looking at work options other than the status quo.
As long as they can fill the seats they have open, paying "Canadian" rates, why not?
Sure, they are aware that some talent is leaving for greener pastures southward, but there is no "shortage" of talent available in the Vancouver market.
When/if enough of the developer supply has exited, that filling those seats becomes difficult, salaries will increase.
Your right. For a typical 1 Bedroom unit, in the city, you would be looking in the $1500 ballpark, a 2 Bedroom unit closer to 2K. For a 3 Bedrooom unit, well good luck with that.
Even with the cost/affordability, the bigger problem is the lack of availability of rental units. The current vacancy rate in the city is at 0.8% and heading downwards.
> The price of a typical Vancouver home rose 21 percent to C$775,300 ($584,290) in January from a year earlier, according to the city’s real estate board.
The costs quoted in the article are a bit vague. If one were to assume that by "Vancouver home", she was referring to a "house" located within the city of Vancouver, you would be in for a rude awakening. Average house price is pushing 2M and what that will buy you is a place to tear down in what was/is the less desirable part of the city.
If your talking a 1 bedroom condo in the city, 500k will get you started and the 775k quoted will get you something a bit above the basics.
When you can figure out how your going to pay that mortgage with your "Vancouver tech" salary, and still be able to afford to live, I'm all ears :)
remember that Stewart is a Canadian and that 8 Billion US dollars is approximately 2.6 Trillion Canadian loonies, that's just about enough to get him a nice 2 bedroom condo somewhere near downtown Vancouver ;)
[0] https://github.com/poteto/hiring-without-whiteboards
related HN discussion thread[1]
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13874026