NEXT Canada, GRIT Ed.06, Brain Gain vs. Brain Drain - Magazine - Page 23
TRYING CANADA’S STARTUP
ECOSYSTEM ON FOR SIZE
Andrii Tsok
Co-founder & CEO, TRYON; Next AI - TO, 2018
B
eing a young family, my wife Nataliia and I traveled a lot. In each new
country, I would buy her a new jewelry charm as a memory of that
country, but we often had to wait in long lines to get a sales associate’s
attention and try anything on. During one of those waits, Nataliia mentioned to me that it would be great if she could try on jewelry at home, see
it in close detail, and make her choice before going to the store and not
having to wait in line for so long. In that moment, the idea of TRYON was
born. Having already more than 10 years of experience—Nataliia in UI/UX,
Nazarii (my brother) in mobile engineering, and myself in data science—we
did an abundance of research to validate the need for virtual jewelry fitting
and created a plan for starting the company.
From left
to right:
Nazarii,
Nataliia,
Andrii
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GRIT
THE ROAD TO CANADA
When we began to think about
where we wanted to build our business, Canada stood out for three
main reasons: it has a diverse culture with top AI scientists; there’s
plenty of government support for
startups; and overall it is an amazing country to live in. We decided
to apply to NEXT Canada’s Next AI
program which (at the time) offered
Start-Up Visa support, and made
the move to Canada where our true
entrepreneurial journey with a lot of
studying, experimentation and development began for us.
When Nataliia and I, first-time
entrepreneurs, arrived in Canada in
2018, our whole life was changed.
From day one at Next AI, our schedules were full of courses, events and
meetings — all to help us learn as
much as possible to start a successful company. We met with so many
experts, advisors, scientists and
other entrepreneurs that broadened our understanding of what
being a founder means and what it
takes to build a company. Not only
did we receive knowledge and the
needed financial support to build
the company, we also received permanent residency status. Having PR
was crucial for us and allowed us to
work hard and focus on TRYON.
The culture of support and help
in Canada’s startup community has
been invaluable to us. After the
Next AI program, we also became a
part of the DMZ incubator and Acceleprise programs, where the first
commercialization steps began.
All these programs were crucial in
TRYON’s journey as they provided access to invaluable advice and
support from the experts and community.
One of the best pieces of advice we received was to never undervalue yourself, your product, or
your team. If your product/service is
unique, it is usually worth more than
you think. Do not be shy or afraid
to put the price tag on your product that it deserves, even if you are
a small startup. Do not lower your
price and confidently back it up
during negotiations. When we started commercializing our product, we
tended to lower the price for our
product, but we got amazing advice
from our advisor who explained to
us why it is important to charge the
right price from the beginning.
WHAT’S TO GAIN?
A week or two after arriving
in Canada, I started asking myself:
Why does Canada provide all this
help to new immigrants? Aren’t they
worried that newcomers will gain
the knowledge and resources, then
go back to their home countries?
Only after some time did we realize that by investing in young entrepreneurs that strive for success,
Canada creates a pool
of grateful and devoted people, who not only
want to continue building
their business here but
also to give back to the
community. Not only that,
people who are selected
to participate in similar
programs are usually skillful and hard-working individuals with expertise in
specific areas. As a result,
so many talented professionals have the opportunity to live and grow their
businesses in Canada
and, consequently, create a “brain gain” for this
country.
Nataliia and I came to
Canada with many years
of engineering and design
expertise, but we needed
resources and support to
implement our idea.
With Canada’s help,
we are now a growing
diverse team of 10 people. We created a unique
virtual try-on technology and work with the
world’s biggest jewelry
brands. And we are proud
to be a Canadian company creating employment
opportunities and contributing to the prosperity
of the Canadian economy.
ADVICE FOR FOUNDERS
“First, sincerely believe in what you do and why you are doing it. And second, don’t forget about the worklife balance. When starting your company and bringing your amazing idea to life, the work-life balance and
your health is often put on the back burner. Make sure you don’t make this mistake. Stay active, get enough
sleep, and look after your health when building the next world-famous company!”
GRIT
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