Canada’s diverse work force gave my startup an unfair edge

A concrete example of Canada’s advantage in having a diverse workforce by Allen Lau, CEO of Wattpad:

In today’s Internet economy, software is king. The next technology behemoths will innovate with software and operating systems instead of new devices and machines. Several Canadian companies (Kik, Hootsuite, Slack) have proved that you can win on the global stage, even when you’re based in Canada. When you build an Internet company, success does not come from the patents you hold or the lobbyists you’ve hired; it’s about the product and the value it offers to users.

I would even argue that these companies are doing exceptionally well because they’re based in Canada. Indeed, we have one major advantage that our neighbours to the south will never be able to trump with a powerful lobby or judicial strategy.

More than half of Toronto’s residents were born outside Canada, myself included. For my company, Wattpad, a global community of 40 million readers and writers, I believe that Toronto’s diversity gives me an unfair advantage.

True innovation is rooted in the ability to solve problems. Toronto’s diversity has helped me build a team that is insightful and mindful enough to tackle the challenges that arise when you build a global Internet company.

When you aspire to serve a global population, you need diversity in your work force. I’m talking about the kind of diversity that goes beyond hiring someone to translate text in the product. You need to hire people who can not only speak different languages, but also understand cultural nuances. This is something that exists naturally in Toronto, as well as other parts of Canada.

Since the Internet is the first technology that simultaneously connects billions of people around the world, companies that focus only domestically miss out on a massive business opportunity. I see this opportunity get bigger every day as the number of people who can access the Internet grows, thanks largely in part to affordable smartphone technology.

When Wattpad first launched, it supported one language: English. Growth was painfully slow. My co-founder, Ivan Yuen, and I decided to support additional languages, such as Vietnamese and Tagalog. Almost immediately, this move attracted new readers and writers from around the world. However, user growth did not come without challenges.

As we expanded into other languages – ones we didn’t read or understand – it became critical to engage these international audiences and support their needs by adapting our product. Fortunately, we had made the decision to base our company in Toronto, and could immediately reach out to friends and colleagues who were fluent in these newly supported languages and could offer us regional perspectives and insights.

Today, Wattpad sees growth in markets where smartphone penetration is on the rise, and in places that are underserved by the traditional publishing industry. Fifty per cent of our traffic comes from outside North America, and we have a team based in our Toronto headquarters that supports the growing international community. The majority of Wattpad employees can speak a second or third language. They are world travellers, having lived in 76 different cities around the world. Many are immigrants or first-generation Canadians.

Canada’s diverse work force gave my startup an unfair edge – The Globe and Mail.