La French Tech
La French Tech Shows Canada How To Build Its "Own The Podium" Innovation Economy
Canadian Innovation Economy In The Doldrums France Offers An Example Of How To Fix It.…
Canada
Shopify's Tobias Lütke on Canada’s "go-for-bronze" mentality ironically echos long standing frustrations
Tobi has struck a vulnerable nerve with his painfully accurate comment that Canada has a cultural problem, a “go for the bronze” mentality.” He is not the first to point out Canada’s lack of clothing WRT commitment and investment in innovation and entrepreneurship. Canada frankly has never been keen on risk capital. It’s just not Canadian, eh? Tobi joins Richard Florida and other Canadians in making similar awkward observations. The greatest irony is that Tobi’s remark that we need an “Own the Podium” program for Canadian innovation, was first proposed by former UBC President Arvind Gupta in a Vancouver Sun editorial some 10 years ago. Predictably, nothing has happened since then, and nothing will likely happen now.
Canada
OOPS!! Amazon’s Vancouver expansion tightens local competition for tech talent
SOMEONE FORGOT TO THINK OF THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES Marc-David Seidel, UBC Apologist for the Amazon…
Donald Trump
As Trump Tightens Legal Immigration, Canada Woos Tech Firms: But Canada Is Not Silicon Valley
There Is More To High-Tech Immigration to Canada Than Meets The Eye My long-time business…
Investment
Trump's Policies Are Already Sending Entrepreneurs to Canada and France
Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security delayed the International Entrepreneur Rule to next March, and it is currently accepting comments on plans to rescind it altogether. The agency cited logistical challenges in vetting these new visas. The International Entrepreneur Rule was designed by the Obama Administration to support Silicon Valley and the high tech industry’s need for immigrant entrepreneurs and engineers. Immigrant entrepreneurs in the U.S. account for 44% of all startups. The news has prompted a backlash from immigrant entrepreneurs like PayPal cofounder Max Levchin and leadership at the National Venture Capital Association, who argue that rolling back the rule will drive would-be job creators to other, more welcoming nations. This is already happening.
Industry Analysis
Rogers Ranks Lowest In Canada Wireless Customer Care
Many observers and former employees say it is run like an offshore sweatshop, complete with stressful bullying No quality customer service can come from such a dysfunctional work environment. The gig economy philosophy is apparent with employee’s reduced to total submission to draconian work rules, total surveillance of all voice and written communication, and apparent high turnover. Burnout is common. Three years ago, there was something of a Sykes employee revolt, when a number of supervisory employees were fired, and an anonymous broadcast email was posted describing the poor management practices. Outsourcing like this has been a common means to cut costs in the wireless industry.
Wifi
Canadian Startup Case Study Underscores Canada's VC Challenges
UPDATE: It is worth noting that this 2012 case study on a company in British…
Tax havens
Pfizer's Corporate Tax "Inversion" To Ireland: Masqueraded Tax Evasion
Pfizer’s announcement this week of its intricate $160 Billion merger/acquisition with Irish pharmaceutical company Allergan, revealed that Pfizer will be moving the new corporate headquarters to Dublin. Essentially, Pfizer, the much larger company, is providing a bridging loan to Allergan to purchase Pfizer so that it may move to Ireland. This enables Pfizer to avoid paying U.S. taxes, even after receiving massive support for R&D from U.S. government programs.
Europe
Norway Sovereign Wealth Fund Drops Coal and Tar Sands Investments
Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), worth $850bn (£556bn) and founded on the nation’s oil and gas wealth, revealed a total of 114 companies had been dumped on environmental and climate grounds in its first report on responsible investing, released on Thursday. The companies divested also include tar sands producers, cement makers and gold miners.
As part of a fast-growing campaign, over $50bn in fossil fuel company stocks have been divested by 180 organisations on the basis that their business models are incompatible with the pledge by the world’s governments to tackle global warming. But the GPFG is the highest profile institution to divest to date.
Racism
Je Suis Charlie Hebdo
Je suis fier d’etre Francais aujourd’ hui. 3.7 Million people turned out in Paris today, officially. Yesterday, large numbers of people also marched in Nice, Toulouse, Lyon and Nantes.
