Brian Wong has been spending much of his day in Vancouver telling reporters he loves the city – really, he does.
The Silicon Valley resident was born and raised in Vancouver before graduating from the University of British Columbia when he was 18.
But after moving to San Francisco to start a career in technology, he didn’t expect to get laid off so suddenly from Digg. The experience, however, led the Canadian to found his own startup in the U.S.
“My only professional network was down there, so it made a lot of logical sense to start my company there,” the 24-year-old said after speaking at a January 19 BC Tech Summit session.
In a scant five years, the CEO and co-founder of Kiip (pronounced “keep”) has seen the company raise more than US$24 million from investors, and Wong said the business grew 50% quarter-over-quarter throughout 2015.
This was fuelled by a strong appetite from clients looking to advertise on smartphones without relying on banner ads. Instead, Kiip develops virtual rewards and achievements for mobile games and apps used by advertisers.
“Until the worst banner ads in the planet completely get eradicated from your phone we will continue doing what we’re doing,” he said, “no matter where we sit, within another company or independently.”
And regardless of what happens to Kiip down the road, Wong is entrenched in the Silicon Valley despite regular visits north of the border to see his parents.
But Vancouver entrepreneurs like Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield have made a go of cross-border living, splitting time equally between large offices in B.C. while maintaining a headquarters in San Francisco.
Wong said a similar arrangement just isn’t possible for him.
“With Slack, because they’re a SaaS [software as a service] business, they have need for customer support, account management, things like that. You can hire those folks pretty much anywhere,” he said.
“For me, unfortunately, because we’re in the advertising business most of our clients are in New York and Chicago and L.A., and so I mostly spend my time in those cities.”
Kiip has a small office in Vancouver. Most of its employees specialize in design and front-end development.
Wong said he wants to expand the office, but he has to make sure he’s not just pursuing that plan “because it’s cool to do. I want to do it if there’s a really good reason for it, and the talent is already there.”
Even the low Canadian dollar and the cheap labour that comes with it aren’t enough to convince him that an expansion is inevitable.
“It’s kind of a shame if you’re just looking at cheap labour as the reason. That makes it feel a lot like outsourcing back in the day, and I prefer that not as the way B.C. or Canada gets categorized,” he said. “You should be going somewhere because there’s a mindset or culture that’s built into the employees you’re hiring that’s conducive to the goals of the company.”
Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) corporate vice-president T.K. Rengarajan, who also spoke at the summit, told Business in Vancouver his company’s main reason for expanding in Vancouver is to capitalize on its talent pool, not lower labour costs.
In April 2014, the tech giant announced it would double its local workforce to 800 from 400 inside newly renovated offices at Vancouver’s Pacific Centre. Those offices drew controversy when it was revealed in December 2014 that a government exemption meant many of the new hires would not be Canadians.
And although the Canadian dollar has dipped to a 13-year low of US$0.68, Rengarajan wouldn’t commit to expanding a Canadian workforce that would come cheaper.
“The loonie goes up and down,” he said. “But our interest is long term. In my mind, the labour market around the world all settles over time.”
GE Canada CEO Elyse Allan said the low dollar is enticing to the parent company but pointed out that the U.S. dollar is trading higher against most other currencies.
“I’m not sure it gives [Canada] an unusual competitive advantage relative to what’s going on in the world,” said the New York transplant who has spent the past 11 years at the helm of GE Canada.
“The dollar is helpful, but as a long-term investor you look for the talent.”
Wong said just a few years ago the prospect of leaving Vancouver to start a tech company was a “no-brainer,” but the tides are shifting as the local talent matures.
And the B.C. tech strategy, announced by Premier Christy Clark at the summit January 18, is just the first step in the right direction for the province’s economy, according to Wong.
“I’m glad this is happening and the government is finally on top of it. [Clark] is very gung-ho about everything. The announcement is very fresh – obviously she has to be.”
@reporton
