e06: Ben Su on why some of Canada's best founders are leaving for the US

Welcome to Unfiltered w/ PORCH, where we explore what it means to be an immigrant entrepreneur from the POV of the immigrant.

In this episode, I'm speaking with Ben Su, Co-Founder & COO of Capita, an AI-native legal tech company building the tools to remove legal cost as a barrier to entrepreneurship.

What happens if a country's startup ecosystem optimizes for the wrong metrics? You get what we are currently dealing with in Canada: builders moving to the US, incubators charging startups to access grants, and entrepreneurs learning how to pitch to bureaucrats instead of selling to customers.

Ben Su thinks we would have better Canadian startups if the government stepped out of the way and allow the market decide who stays up and who goes to the startup graveyard.

In this conversation, Ben and I chat about the outcomes we incentivize for in Canada when startups optimize for grants, why he thinks America is the greatest startup in the world, life before Capita, and more.

Key Takeaways

• Grants are great: But they can also incentivize the wrong behaviours. When startups can get money without proving market demand, they never learn if customers actually want their product. We can’t be rewarding skilled grant writers over market-validation.

• Network effects compound: The best founders want to be around other great founders, not folks focused on securing handouts. Ouch. This also has consequences because when the best talent congregates in one ecosystem (i.e. Silicon Valley), other countries lose both human capital and growth opportunities.

• You can’t out-entrepreneur government policy: Once a system rewards certain behaviours, they become self-reinforcing cycles that are difficult to break. And yes, some companies can succeed despite these limitations, but we need systemic change to start seeing any real growth.

Official Links

• Connect with Ben Su on LinkedIn

• Get legal support for your startup

Ben’s Media Diet

1. One newsletter you’d never miss: Doesn’t subscribe to any.

2. One immigrant entrepreneur that inspires you: Elon Musk

3. One podcast you regularly listen to: The All-In Podcast

4. Any books or resources that have significantly shaped your entrepreneurship journey:

   1. Cold Start Problem by Andrew Chen

   2. Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore

   3. The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh, Steve Jamison, and Craig Walsh

One Ask

If you got value from this episode, please forward it to one immigrant entrepreneur you know.