An Open Letter regarding "Silicon Valley of the North": The Waterloo Startup Community

I was recently privy to an interesting perspective about not only Kitchener-Waterloo's Tech Community - but Tech Communities external to Silicon Valley at large. 

Anthony Reinhart is the Director of Editorial Strategy at Communitech - his words have always been poetry but it's the content here that I really appreciate; TL;DR: Your Tech Community does not need to replicate Silicon Valley.

With Anthony's permission - I've opened the letter up. Hopefully this helps alleviate the need to incessantly compare your own community to what happens out West.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I think Michael Litt's observations are spot-on: We're not big fans of the 'Valley of the North' tag, because every tech ecosystem is different, and comparisons imply that other places could (or should want to) be the same as Silicon Valley, which is not realistic.

We also feel that 'Valley of the North' references carry the risk of being construed as insecurity on our part; as a sign that we don't like ourselves the way we are and therefore want to be like someplace else, which isn't the case. While there's plenty of room for improvement here, the Valley is not perfect either (it's an expensive place to live; talent churn is high etc.).

Waterloo Region's tech ecosystem has grown organically out of local soil that has been rich with entrepreneurial spirit and technical innovation throughout its 200-year history, due to many uniquely local factors. Those same factors gave rise to the founding of the University of Waterloo in 1957 - there was local need for engineers to feed industry - and so UW was born out of pragmatic need.

That same pragmatism is behind the co-op programs Michael mentioned, which turn out self-sufficient, scrappy graduates equipped with wide-ranging and worldly experience.

Of course, more capital would enable us to grow more world-beating companies of the scale seen in the Valley, but no one I know expects (or necessarily wants) us to duplicate the Valley.

I can attest, having been a journalist for many years, that media people love making simplistic comparisons and are obsessed with rankings, as though everything is a zero-sum game. We don't think it is. Waterloo Region is Waterloo Region and the Valley is the Valley (as New York is New York, Boston is Boston etc.), and while some things that happen there will also happen here and vice-versa, they will always be different places that evolved from their own sets of circumstances.

I hope this helps in some way; if you need anything else, just let us know.

Cheers,

Tony

Anthony Reinhart
Director, Editorial Strategy, Communitech
The Tannery, 151 Charles St. W. Suite 100
Kitchener Ontario Canada N2G 1H6
P: 519.888.9944 Ext. 2060
Toll Free (North America): 1-855-390-TECH (8324)
BB: 519.590.3944
F: 519.888.7007
E: anthony@communitech.ca
Twitter: @ajreinhart
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyreinhartjournalist"

Help me ride to find a cure.

Update - I'm almost there! Last minute supporters are much appreciated! 

-------------------

My Dad is the man.

If I can be half the Father he has been and inspire my children the way he has inspired me, I will consider my life a complete and raging success. 

The path he chose to walk in life has been the path of love. Love for his family, friends, pets and neighbours. Anyone who has ever come in contact with him was received with the utmost respect and admiration. 

In my 25 years, I've never heard him speak ill of anyone. You have to meet him in order to understand his caring presence. I wish everyone would attempt to emulate his approach to life.

Unfortunately, for the past 2 years, my family has been struggling with his fight against a rare form of cancer. 

The only diagnosis of the disesase has been called a metastatic-solitary-fibrous-tumour of the plura. In Summer 2010, he underwent a pulmonary resection to remove an 8 LB tumour from the lining of his right lung.

His recovery was slow but we were optimistic that the disease was removed. He was left with a significant amount of nerve pain due to the invasive nature of the incision.

At the 3 month checkup, our oncologist informed us that spots were reforming on the lining (plura). Whether they were missed during the first procedure or considered new-growths, we did not know. At this point, we decided to work with Toronto-General's famous Thorasic unit.

A new oncologist and new surgeon decided that another pulmonary resection was required. This time, they would remove the affected area(s) as well as the new-growth(s). His surgery date was exactly one year after the first, Summer 2011.

After 3 short months of struggled recovery - we were informed by his CT scans that the growths were returning. This time in areas where they did not previously exist, including the inside of his left lung.

Over the past six months, his condition has worsened considerably. Due to scar-tissue and health, another surgery is not an option. This type of cancer does not respond well to the violent chemicals that are chemo-therapy. We're now in the hands of paliative care.

As I write this, we've completed the first week of radiation therapy at the Balsillie family Cancer Centre at Grand River Hospital.

No amount of gumption that my mother, brother or I can muster can do anything to improve his condition. We're at the whims of our health-care system and the pharmaceutical industry. 

In a fit of restlessnes, I've been looking for something that I can do to help. I want to help my Dad, I also want to help the millions of families that struggle with the same illness. 

I've decided to commit to the 120KM Grand River Hospital Ride for Cancer. I've never had a road bike, I've been training for the past 3 weeks in order to prepare, as well as test my commitment to raising the $5000 minimum entry.

You're likely reading this post because you're within my network. If interested in supporting my Father, Family, our friends and everyone else being treated for Cancer, please consider supporting my ride.

If you'd like to make a contribution - please click THIS LINK. Contributions can be anonymous, all donation sizes are gratiously accepted.

With the help of Blake Smith, I'm going to be creating a small-documentary to help raise awareness for future riders. As a token of my appreciation for sponsoring my initiative, I'll be providing donators access to early versions of the film, as well as some extra footage.

Thanks a million. I hope to see you on the open road :)

@michaellitt

P.S. If you aren't able to contribute any money, I totally understand. A tweet would go a long way! I've pre-populated one here.