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Addressing the 600-pound beaver in the room

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Addressing the 600-pound beaver in the room

Plus: Koho’s banking roadmap (with fresh funding), GreenSky’s rarified air.

Shopify’s Harley Finkelstein kicked the hornet’s nest at Elevate’s opening night when he called for “injecting more ambition into the Canadian psyche.” The president of Canada’s largest tech company noted that our collective unwillingness to go for gold is “the 600-pound beaver in the room.”

That bon mot quickly became a straw man for many in the ecosystem to bludgeon with their favourite pet grievance. Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne co-signed the sentiments onstage at Elevate days later, allowing CCI president Ben Bergen another opportunity to lay blame at the feet of the feds’ innovation policy. Others, like VC Laura Lenz, pointed the finger away from founders to issues of support and structural disincentives. A quick spin of your favourite social network was sure to find thought leaders who could explain everything wrong with Canada in one simple chart.

I would be more frustrated if BetaKit wasn’t partially responsible. Finkelstein said the same thing on The BetaKit Podcast two months ago, and his co-worker Tobi Lütke called ambition “a problem” at our Town Hall in May. We regularly write about the impact of taxation, capital, procurement, and government policy on ‘the ecosystem.’ Measured concern is BetaKit’s love language.

So why the sudden brouhaha? Elevate MC Amber Mac, who was onstage with Champagne, told me the whole thing mirrored a moment in 2018 when our prime minister said Canada needed “more swagger” (at a Shopify event, no less). The comment became Question Period fodder because proper levels of Canadian ambition only seem to be a going concern when elections are looming.

Look, we need to get smarter about separating analysis of the macro from empathy for the micro experiences companies face. It is true that many serious, complex challenges lie before our country; it is also true that any founder griping about the state of play as an alternative to navigating it is expediting the death of their business. Discussing one does not invalidate the other.

To succeed on the global playing field, ambition is necessary. It is not enough. Canada’s current inability to parse the conversation we need to have from the conversations we keep having will lead to fewer entrepreneurs, fleeing talent, and a generation of Canadians left only with hard choices.

If you have a chart that explains why I’m wrong, send it to me.

Douglas Soltys
Editor-in-chief

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