iUpload....and iLeave

My dentist lets me watch The Young and the Restless while she removes tartar. Victor Newman, who is about 5,000 years old, alienates plucky wife Nikki, while his children sleep with each other's spouses, then they all reconcile, then it starts again...the plot plays on a continuous loop. I can't bear to look, but I can't bear to look away, either. Will it ever change?

Sometimes the startup story in Canada appears the same, too. Plucky company becomes a category leader in a giant emerging market, attracts Tier 1 US VC money, and then....the company moves south. Or east to Boston. The executive team, and sales and marketing are run out of its new US office, leaving its Canadian home reduced to a r&d office.

I thought we'd move past the attractions of this growth model, but now comes the story of iUpload. Having raised $7M from Boston VCs Greylock and Northbridge this spring, iUpload has announced that it is moving its 19 person office to Waltham MA. Good luck, troops. But remember: Dunkin Donuts isn't Tim Hortons. The coffee's not as good and the donuts come with scary icing that might be carcinogenic.