Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs helped bring the computer to everyday people. Woz is largely credited to be the designer of the first personal computer, the Apple 1 in 1976. Since, Apple has evolved and led the tech industry by creating products such as the iMac, MacBook, iPod, iPhone and iPad.
Wozniak was a guest speaker at an event organized by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal on February 16th. Wozniak, who is commonly known as Woz, spoke about the history of Apple, the future of technology and how Canada, specifically Montreal, can separate itself from all the clutter in the startup space.
When asked how Montreal can possibly become the next Silicon Valley, which is highly regarded as the place to go if you’re a startup, Wozniak stated, “You need to ask yourself what do you have that makes you special. Not how you can be a different place. The desire to search for something newer and better is part of our nature,” but is not limited by geography.
Montreal has seen a resurgence of technology startups and has also seen an infusion of funding from the government and angel investors. Sergio A. Escobar, Director of the Founder Institute in Montreal, stated to BetaKit last week that its latest round of applications to join its program saw the most demand in its history. “911 people attended our recruitment events, which started the last week of November. To give you a perspective, that’s 2.5x times higher than the recruitment done last year while we were opening Canada for the first time… We had to shut down applications one week earlier due to high volume of applications.”
Notable startups such as PasswordBox, Tab, Busbud, Lagoa, Intellitix and Mobeewave have all helped the province become one of Canada’s leading hubs for new business ideas. Hopefully, this is just the beginning.