Why Did I Come Back to Canada?
Since moving from San Francisco to Vancouver in late 2020, I’ve been asked one question over and over: “Why did you come back to Canada?”
The short answer is that the Canadian tech ecosystem is at a generational inflection point and I want to be a part of it.
The longer answer is that through my nearly 20-year journey in Silicon Valley, I’ve developed a unique expertise in helping international startups access US capital. I believe not only that Canada is on the precipice of greatness, but that I can help accelerate the global potential of the next generation of Canadian startups.
In 2002, I moved to the Bay Area for grad school and became immersed in the Silicon Valley tech scene. My professional journey started at Motorola (back when the Razr was the hottest phone on earth and the iPhone was nothing more than an Apple fanboy’s dream), followed by two incredible startup adventures as the first employee at big data pioneer Aster Data and the CEO/cofounder of DataHero.
Aster Data, 2006 (Redwood Shores, CA) — Like my pink shirt?
After DataHero was acquired in 2015, I joined 500 Startups, where I invested in data and AI startups around the world on behalf of the firm’s flagship accelerator. Seeing the immense opportunities in bridging the gap between Silicon Valley and global startup ecosystems, I left to found Commonwealth Ventures. The goal of Commonwealth Ventures was both simple and groundbreaking: to increase the rate at which international startups could raise capital from Silicon Valley VCs with a starting assumption that they would never relocate to the US. At a time when the majority of US VCs still expected international founders to move to Silicon Valley as a condition of investment, this was unheard of.
And we were incredibly successful. Through a combination of mini accelerators (“fundraising bootcamps”), hands-on services and a powerful mentor network, in less than 3 years we helped international startups raise over $100M in Seed and Series A funding from US investors.
So why did I forgo this global opportunity to focus exclusively on Canada? Here’s the thing: 90% of that funding was raised by Canadian startups.
Even to a proud Canadian, this was a stunning result that I didn’t see coming. It turned out that two fundamental shifts were at play:
The Canadian startup ecosystem, which for years had been slowly but surely growing, was finally reaching escape velocity — with compelling new startups emerging faster than almost any other country in the world
US VCs had overwhelmingly become comfortable investing into Canadian domiciled companies
The second point represented a tectonic shift from only a few years prior, when most US investors still required Canadian companies to reincorporate in Delaware (and, thus, forgo significant tax breaks and grant opportunities).
With such an incredible opportunity staring me in the face, whatever thoughts I had of building Commonwealth Ventures in San Francisco crumbled like Jimmy Garoppolo on a fourth quarter drive. It was clear to me that the real opportunity was to focus exclusively on helping Canadian startups close the funding gap with their American competitors. Less than a year later, Commonwealth Ventures was acquired by Panache Ventures, Canada’s leading pre-seed and seed stage venture fund.
And, thus, began the next chapter in my startup journey, back where I started.