I am considering taking my pitch to SV. As a Canadian corp, is this a good idea or bad. I don't want to move to SV, but want to have a crack at the VC's. Can it be done??? I know that Flickr did it but eventually had to move down...or do SV_VC's not interested in Canadian opportunities...
Actually, Flickr never raised money from U.S. VCs before they were purchased by Yahoo. If I've got my facts straight, they did some angel financing in Canada from investors such as Dick Hart.
It seems to me that the early-stage investment market in Canada is pretty terrible. And getting investment in a consumer oriented internet startup is notoriously difficult here. Most Canadian VC's want deals in lower risk, late stage, highly defensible IP kind of companies, and they almost always invest in syndicate so they don't have to take all the blame if things go wrong.
I get the impression that SV VC's are a lot more willing to take risks on innovative internet companies.
Any chance you are located in Montreal (or willing to move?)
Montreal seems to be hopping right now with startup energy. There is ample seed and early stage capital with a number of high profile new funds having recently launched. I am in the process of raising capital for a startup venture based in Montreal and the response so far has been encouraging.
You might want to consider locating a satellite office just across the border, and incorporate (inexpensive) in the USA. Makes it much easier from a legal standpoint to do business with you.
