For whatever reason, the vast majority of Canadian high-tech entrepreneurs never shoot for the big deal. Rather than aiming to be bought by $100 million, $500-million or, heck, even $1-billion, the typical scenario is they get an offer worth from $25 million to $50 million.
It’s like the contestants on the game show, “Let’s Make a Deal”, who take what’s in the box rather than risk seeing what’s behind curtain #1.
It the safe, conservative Canadian play but in the process, they leave lots of money on the table, as well as the potential to build something global, large and built to last. It leaves Canada with a scrappy bunch of small to medium size companies but not enough heavyweights such as Research in Motion and Open Text.
Given this take-the-money-and-run scenario, it’s good to seee HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes tells Techvibes he has grander ambitions. In an interview, he said:
“I want to build a billion-dollar company and take it to an IPO exit, enable the financial independence of 50 people around me and build something disruptive, like how Netflix disrupted the traditional movie rental industry or how Apple rewrote music.”
Baby Thrives in the Arms of a New Owner
It may be a bold statement but it is the type of chutzpah Canadian entrepreneurs need as opposed to getting excited about the first interesting offer than comes along. Sure, there is risk in turning down lucrative takeover offers but there’s also risk in accepting a deal, only to watch your “baby” thrive in the arms of the new owner.
One of the major hurdles facing Canadian entrepreneurs who do have ambitions to go big is financing. There just isn’t enough post-seed capital to properly finance a company with high-growth plans. This is changing as U.S. investors start to become more serious about Canadian start-ups but it has meant that many entrepreneurs have taken a deal because raising capital was so hard to do.
Who knows if HootSuite will reach Holmes’ goals but I give him complete credit for going for it. HootSuite is a rocket and, arguably, one of Canada’s hottest startups. In some respects, it would be shame to see it disappear in the bosom of a buyer before it had a chance to see how run and fast it could run.
You know what’s strange about Hootsuite’s success? It’s how muted the enthusiasm has been in Canada.
