Years ago I wrote about a book that venture capitalist Albert Wenger was writing -- in public I would add -- called The World After Capital. The public bit is interesting. As he was writing the book over the last ten years or so, he did it in public and published drafts along the way. This allowed him to get feedback, learn things, and revise accordingly. He calls this a "knowledge loop" and it ties in nicely with some of the topics that he covers in the book.

The first focus of the book is on explaining that capital (which was a constraint of industrialization) is no longer scarce. This isn't necessarily true everywhere, but he argues that it is true in the developed world. What is instead scarce today is attention. That is our defining constraint as we continue to move into the Knowledge Age. The second focus of his book is on how he thinks we should best respond to these changes, as well as to the limitations of capitalism.

I haven't read the book yet (only scanned it), but it's now in my queue. Normally my queue consists of a stack of partially read books next to my bed. But this one is digital only for the time being. If you'd like to read a digital copy (there's a downloadable PDF), go here. Apparently there will also be a hard copy available sometime later this year or early next year.

Years ago I wrote about a book that venture capitalist Albert Wenger was writing -- in public I would add -- called The World After Capital. The public bit is interesting. As he was writing the book over the last ten years or so, he did it in public and published drafts along the way. This allowed him to get feedback, learn things, and revise accordingly. He calls this a "knowledge loop" and it ties in nicely with some of the topics that he covers in the book.

The first focus of the book is on explaining that capital (which was a constraint of industrialization) is no longer scarce. This isn't necessarily true everywhere, but he argues that it is true in the developed world. What is instead scarce today is attention. That is our defining constraint as we continue to move into the Knowledge Age. The second focus of his book is on how he thinks we should best respond to these changes, as well as to the limitations of capitalism.

I haven't read the book yet (only scanned it), but it's now in my queue. Normally my queue consists of a stack of partially read books next to my bed. But this one is digital only for the time being. If you'd like to read a digital copy (there's a downloadable PDF), go here. Apparently there will also be a hard copy available sometime later this year or early next year.

What these images should tell you is that the Canadian proptech landscape is fairly Toronto-centric, but that it's also very much in its nascent stages. We're just getting started here.

I would encourage you to download a full copy of the report. It's very well done.

Back in 2006, Paul Graham penned an essay about how to be Silicon Valley. Since then, it seems like every city on the planet has tried to replicate the successes of the Valley. At the time, his argument was pretty simple. Geography used to be destiny when it came to cities. New York City, for example, is arguably what it is today because of its geography and its deep harbor, which created a natural competitive advantage compared to other east coast cities such as Boston and Philadelphia. But this, he argues, has become far less relevant. Now, you can create a great city pretty much anywhere. So what are the necessary ingredients?

Paul argued that you only really need two kinds of people to create a technology hub: rich people and nerds. You need people creating new things and you need rich people to fund those new ideas. That's it. So in theory, if you could just dump a bunch of these kinds of people in one place -- Nunavut? -- you'd perhaps get unicorns coming out the other end. He goes on to say that Miami is a perfect example of a city that has lots of the former, but very few of the latter. It has lots of rich people, but, in his words, it's not the kind of place that nerds like. So it is/was not a good startup city. (I'm a nerd and I like Miami.)

But the year is now 2021 and a global pandemic seems to be helping to change this dynamic. Every tech entrepreneur and/or investor now seems to want to move to either Austin or Miami. To that end, SoftBank recently announced that it has earmarked $100 million for startups that are based in Miami or that plan to be based in Miami in the near future. It's perhaps a good testament to the momentum that seems to be developing around the startup scene in the city, which is something that their mayor has been incredibly vocal about.

But here's something to consider. Was Paul right about the two requisite ingredients for a successful startup hub? And if so, does Miami now have enough nerds? Maybe this recent influx of people was just what it was missing.

Photo by Cody Board on Unsplash

What these images should tell you is that the Canadian proptech landscape is fairly Toronto-centric, but that it's also very much in its nascent stages. We're just getting started here.

I would encourage you to download a full copy of the report. It's very well done.

Back in 2006, Paul Graham penned an essay about how to be Silicon Valley. Since then, it seems like every city on the planet has tried to replicate the successes of the Valley. At the time, his argument was pretty simple. Geography used to be destiny when it came to cities. New York City, for example, is arguably what it is today because of its geography and its deep harbor, which created a natural competitive advantage compared to other east coast cities such as Boston and Philadelphia. But this, he argues, has become far less relevant. Now, you can create a great city pretty much anywhere. So what are the necessary ingredients?

Paul argued that you only really need two kinds of people to create a technology hub: rich people and nerds. You need people creating new things and you need rich people to fund those new ideas. That's it. So in theory, if you could just dump a bunch of these kinds of people in one place -- Nunavut? -- you'd perhaps get unicorns coming out the other end. He goes on to say that Miami is a perfect example of a city that has lots of the former, but very few of the latter. It has lots of rich people, but, in his words, it's not the kind of place that nerds like. So it is/was not a good startup city. (I'm a nerd and I like Miami.)

But the year is now 2021 and a global pandemic seems to be helping to change this dynamic. Every tech entrepreneur and/or investor now seems to want to move to either Austin or Miami. To that end, SoftBank recently announced that it has earmarked $100 million for startups that are based in Miami or that plan to be based in Miami in the near future. It's perhaps a good testament to the momentum that seems to be developing around the startup scene in the city, which is something that their mayor has been incredibly vocal about.

But here's something to consider. Was Paul right about the two requisite ingredients for a successful startup hub? And if so, does Miami now have enough nerds? Maybe this recent influx of people was just what it was missing.

Photo by Cody Board on Unsplash

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