While Canadians are waiting for another company to repeat the history created by BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB), experts note that the country has the tendency to cheer for one major player and ignore the rest, says a report from the Globe And Mail.
Changing environment
Canadians are waiting for the next national tech giant after dwindling performance of BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB). There are also indications that the country may soon get another company that will become BlackBerry (apple) of their eyes. Canada is putting a lot of money in the early stage funding whereas the later-stage investors worldwide are looking forward to deploy their capital in the International waters.
However, for Canada to produce a BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) heir looks a little more than challenging and those expecting from the country are looking in the wrong places. Scott Bonham, co-chair of C100, a network of Canadian ex-pat executives in Silicon Valley that integrates Canadian tech entrepreneurs with investment, partnership and mentors said that he does not think that is the way of forming the companies anymore.
Overhead costs are declining for digital businesses, which will allow the entrepreneurs to start a company at a lesser cost compared to the past decade. Also, these digital companies are taking seriously factors like productivity, increasing revenue per employee rather than hiring thousands of people. “The companies of the future are not going to be the ones of the past,” says Mr. Bonham.
Canadian tech sector could give another BlackBerry
According to Wayne Gudbranson, chief executive of Branham Group Inc. that gathers an annual list of top Canadian information and communication technology firms by revenue, Canada is cheers excessively for one major player and in the process it forgets to focus on rest of the industry.
First, Canadians were excited over rise of Nortel Networks Corp and then company busted. After that they looked upon BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) and now they are waiting for another major player. Gudbranson said that the country has the tendency to hail a few and ignore the broader sector in which there are other players doing well. Overall, Gudbranson is bullish on the Canadian tech sector where revenue grew at 13% last year after excluding BlackBerry.
Shopify launched in 2004 now boasts of 500 employees. In terms of valuation, “we have ambitions to grow as big, if not bigger, than a company like BlackBerry,” says Harley Finkelstein, chief platform officer of the company, which is expected to be worth $1 billion.
Could this be next BlackBerry?
