37Signals, the makers of BaseCamp and Ruby On Rails (among other things) just released a free html version of their excellent book Getting Real. I had initially bought the PDF book when it came out and while I do not agree with everything they say, I think it is a good read for pretty much everybody working in the tech field.
Pretty much everyone who knows me knows that I am very bored (ashamed?) by the tech/startup/entrepreneurship scene of Montreal. I have repeatedly said that Silicon Valley is *the* place to be for any serious Internet entrepreneur and based my claims on actual facts. Yet, a lot of people living outside of Silicon Valley fail to see why the Bay Area is “that good”. In fact, many of them must think I’m just talking through my hat and that I am biased by things like the weather and having Arnold as the governator. (did I mention it’s been around 80 degrees all week? 
).
According to this great article from the New York Times, startups are more likely to succeed in the Valley than anywhere else in the world. While not being convinced about the 20 minute drive rule (discussed in the article), I think the author makes a point: it is easier to find investment, co-founders and talented people in Silicon Valley where everything seems to revolve around technology and startups.
Saying that a startup cannot succeed outside of the Valley would be pushing it too far, however. Many great companies were born in Vancouver, New York, LA, Chicago and Denver. I believe that the main difference with Montreal is that the “entrepreneurial spirit” is alive in those cities. For example, I don’t see a college student dropping out to join a company for equity alone happening anytime soon in Montreal. I don’t see a newly graduated student joining a company for equity alone either. Instead, people go straight to the corporate world after graduating, where the risk is minimal and where they can get a “decent” stable income. It has also been proven that “getting out” after you’ve had a taste of such stability is very hard, which is why recruiting when you only have equity to offer is so hard in Montreal.
Question of the day: how many successful Montreal startups do you know?
I will be at Startup Camp in Mountain View, CA on Nov 2-3. It’s a free event and it looks very promising, I recommend you sign up asap before it sells out (I am sure it will).
I’ll be looking for developers to team up with, so if you have the entrepreneur spirit, you’re more than welcome to introduce yourself!
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