Vantage Points: Alison Taylor thinks tech is actually kind of weird

Alison Taylor came to startups from the realm of small business, managing medical clinics in BC before co-founding her “side hustle” in 2014.

“We’ve never seen any detriment to building in Canada, if anything, we’ve actually seen a lot of benefits.”
Alison Taylor
Jane App

That side hustle was clinic management software Jane App, now generating more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), and with its success came a whole new world of perspectives she didn’t quite understand.

“When you come from a different part of the industry, and then you come into the tech world, it’s actually kind of weird, but people who are in the tech world don’t recognize the strangeness of it,” she said to a theatre full of tech leaders at BetaKit Town Hall: Vancouver last week.

On stage, Taylor described how she and her co-founder Trevor Johnston became “accidental entrepreneurs,” creating a full-time job for themselves out of an app that was designed to provide passive income. In fact, Taylor admitted that Jane App only joined the tech ecosystem through New Ventures’ 2016 startup competition because of a cash prize.

“We were like ‘Cash? Yes. We will be there,’” Taylor joked. “We didn’t know anything about [tech], we had no plans on fundraising, we just made stuff up.”

Despite presenting herself as a stowaway into the space, Jane App has become one of the most unique success stories in Canadian tech. The company has only externally raised less than $10 million, according to a Globe and Mail report, and was even recognized with New Ventures’ alumni impact award in 2023 for its significant contribution to the BC tech community. Taylor casually revealed on stage that Jane App had achieved $100 million in ARR the day before being recognized as an anchor company of the year by the BC Tech Association.

Jane App’s success perhaps has come from bucking trends in Canadian tech: defying pressure to go to Silicon Valley, raise capital, or exit.

“We heard that this was something that used to happen where people would be pressured to go down to San Francisco if they wanted to build or get funding, but even early on there were lots of firms that had a different investment thesis than [Silicon Valley],” Taylor said. “I think they were the ones that had that more long term view, and I think that’s a healthier investment thesis.”

She later added that she often hears founders say they weren’t ambitious enough, often looking to exit at $50 million or trying to imitate the path of successful companies.

Following a landslide of criticism against the capital gains tax rate changes outlined in this year’s federal budget, Taylor expressed her support for innovating in Canada, having told BetaKit in an interview before the panel that paying taxes is part of their Canadian duty.

“It’s back again? I don’t really understand why,” Taylor said on stage, referring to the sentiment of leaving Canada to build businesses. “We’ve never seen any detriment to building in Canada, if anything, we’ve actually seen a lot of benefits.”

One of those benefits is being in Clio’s backyard. On multiple occasions, Taylor expressed gratitude to Clio CEO and Town Hall keynote speaker Jack Newton for his advice and ability to draw potential business partners to the Vancouver area.

“If you have someone charting a path for you, you end up building an ecosystem where success follows for lots of companies.”

Taylor also delivered a reality check for tech founders based on her experience running a small business, which comes with low margins and “negative government support” compared to the tech space.

“Oh thank you, I’ll take all this money and be grateful for it,” Taylor said emphatically, adding Jane had received funding through SR&ED credits and women entrepreneurship programs.

Taylor noted that the amount of funding available to her almost leads to complacency—until she remembers that such funding is more widely available in Ontario.

“Sometimes I forget we still have to fight, like ‘okay, we should go fight for more,’” Taylor said. “[Ontario’s] provincial funding is way higher than BC’s; that gets me competitive.”

On October 22, BetaKit Town Hall: Vancouver continued the pulse check on Canadian innovation, policy, and optimism.

Please enjoy this selection of highlights and insights from the town hall:

Photos courtesy Eric Ennis from Renovo Agency for BetaKit.