This is a presentation I gave to the FounderFuel class covering how Canadian startups can best navigate Silicon Valley.

1. Silicon Valley
for Canadian startups
George Favvas
May 8, 2013

2. Who am I?
1995-2011 2011-2013
no white hair shit ton of white hair

3. Understanding SiliconValley
• Take risks
• Embrace failure
• Iterate quickly
• Scalable growth
• DOers vs TALKers
• Density
• People
• Capital
• Ideas
Physical place State of mind
Hard to replicate
Can be replicated anywhere
BUT need to kill bad habits
(laziness, zombie startups, SR&ED trap)

4. Come visit

5. Where to go
Canadian Technology Accelerator
3 months free at RocketSpace, but a waiting list
Mountain View
$10/day (suggested donation)
San Francisco
$8/hour or $20/day
San Francisco Palo Alto
AC760 group
MTL/SF tech mafia Weekly email digest
Free/cheap events
Canadian investors and founders in the valley
48 hours in the valley
9,000+ hackers/founders
Tons of meetups
Networking
Coworking Coffee
FF/RV network

6. Fundraising - Angel orVC?
Rule of thumb: Need to exit for at least 10x the capital you raised
• $25k-$100k
• Faster, more of a gut decision
• Invest because they know or like the team or have
market expertise
• New crowdfunding platforms
• Valuation sensitive ($5M-$6M cap max)
• Often ok with 3x return
• $250k- millions
• Analysis, partner meetings, etc
• Investing for financial return
• Less valuation sensitive because they want to
follow on
• BEWARE: Larger VC’s ($200M+ under
management) rarely do seed deals, but will
ask for meetings and have you spin your
wheels for them.
• Rarely say “no”
Angel VC

7. Fundraising - top mistakes
• Flying in for a week to “fundraise”
• Getting your hopes up
• Not focusing on traction
• Not talking to everyone in parallel
• Over optimizing terms at the expense of
time and investor quality
TIPS: Ask for less money at a lower valuation, talk to everyone at once,
get Canadian money to commit before raising in the valley

8. Milestones - $1M seed round
Ash Fontana
http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/22/want-to-raise-a-million-bucks-heres-what-youll-need/

9. Milestones - $3-$5M Series A
• $1M ARR (Annual Run Rate)
(Net of COGS)
• Growth (10-20%/month)
• Large addressable market
• Sense of CAC and LTV

10. When do you need a visa?
• Representing a Canadian company
• Attend a conference or participate in meetings with
investors, partners, etc
• Strong ties to Canada (business, family, etc)
• Not earning revenue from a US source
• Sufficient funds to cover your stay (from a non-US
source)
• Intend to return to Canada
• “Working” in US, or for an American company
• Intend to immigrate in the US
Don’t need a visa Need a visa
TIPS: Always book a return ticket. You can always change your
return date later if your plans change. Have business cards with
your Canadian address on you in case you need them.

11. Secondary screening
(aka “Consider your flight missed”)
• Stay calm, courteous and polite (even if they’re not)
• Never lie - only makes things worse
• Answer questions but don’t give more info than necessary
• Have backup documents ready in case you need them
• You have the right to ask to speak to a supervisor
• If denied, talk to an immigration lawyer before reattempting

12. Making the move

13. SF or South Bay?45 min to 2hr commute, depending on trafficMore action
Public transit
More desirable for young workers
Closer to VC’s, acquirers
Dead/less distractions
Need to drive everywhere
More parks, green spaces

14. Optimal corporate setup
Disclaimer: Every case is different. Get legal/accounting/tax advice.
http://blog.carlmercier.com/2011/08/28/us-incorporation-for-canadian-startups/
Carl Mercier
• Owns intellectual property
• Investors invest in this
• Outsources engineering to
Canadian corp
• Easier to raise from US investors or
be acquired by US company
• Canadian employees
• Eligible for SR&ED credits

15. VISA options for founders
Pros Cons Process Approx cost.
L-1
Intracompany transfer
- Fast
- No $ requirements
- No nationality
requirements
- Path to green card
- Canadian corp must
have been operating > 1
year
- Must continue to
operate with CAN empls
- 1 month prep
- Get visa on the spot at
US border
- $3k-$4k first founder
- $2k per additional
E-2
Treaty investor
- Gets the job done
- Requires “substantial
investment”
- Ownership
requirements
- No path the green card
- 1 month prep
- 3-4 month wait (US
consulate in Toronto)
- $3k-$4k first founder
- $2k per additional
O-1
Alien of “extraordinary”
ability
- Not linked to your
company
- Hard to qualify
- Expensive
- Subjective
- US consulate Toronto
(?)
- $10k per founder
Get this one if youGet this one if you
cancan
Common myths: Startup visa Easier for Canadians TN
H1B
More details here

16. Costs
• Immigration lawyer/fees:
$3k-$10k per founder
• Desk:
$400-$600/month
(tip: go month to month at first)
• Health insurance (paid by employer):
$250-$450/month/employee

17. Questions?
@georgefavvas
george@favvas.com
www.favvas.com