Patrick Keefe’s column on Friday drew big response from readers, both on Entrevestor and social media, and we’d like to share some of the feedback with you.

Keefe, a Partner at Build Ventures in Halifax, wrote a response to the analysis conducted by the global consultancy EY and Entrevestor, showing the cost benefits of Halifax over Silicon Valley.

Keefe countered in a piece on the Build website that the analysis omitted one all-important factor -- the time it takes to bring a product to market when operating out of a smaller centre.

Read the EY-Entrevestor Analysis of Costs

Several writers commented on a proposal of parties in Atlantic Canada to have an extended-stay facility in major centres so Atlantic Canadian sales staff can have affordable accommodation and a base when traveling.

Here’s some of the feedback that the column received:

On Entrevestor:

Chris Mathis

This is an excellent observation and one that isn’t difficult to address at least from the point of view of funding support, and provided the commitment to on the ground validation for accelerated growth is internalized in the company. Larger population bases will naturally have a higher likelihood for local sales revenue than we have (depending on the product) - so our cost base for reaching more customers sooner is higher. But I wonder if the issue is a lack of available/sufficient sales experience in our start-ups, which is more challenging to fix but feasible to address possibly in collective ways. Helping start-ups to locate and hire experienced sales people may be the focal point to address Patrick’s observation.

Giles Crouch

Excellent article! So very true! Maybe the province(s) and investors could leverage short-term living spaces in key cities like Boston, Toronto and San Francisco where regional start-ups pay a small fee, lower than what a hotel would cost, so it’s break even. They get that extended stay in key hubs and can hop back and forth for a few months? Rent a 4-5 bedroom home for example and have an account with a car sharing service (avoids high cost of rentals) and transit passes. Meals can be cooked in the house when they aren’t entertaining clients or working on partnerships. Okay, maybe a crazy idea.

On LinkedIn:

Steve Willson

Patrick and Peter, thanks for highlighting this issue. I would add one observation, many people in Atlantic Canada don't believe that what works in other parts of the world will work there. The attitude against CFAs (Come from away's) and even more so CBFAs (Come Back From Away's) is as strong as it ever was. We need to recognize that the world is a big place and just because we love our laid-back lifestyle doesn't mean we can force the rest of the world to slow down and smell the roses.

Colin Deacon

Very important article. Thank you Patrick and Peter. This message should be required reading throughout the region.

Stephen Finn

I would like to know your thoughts on having a remote sales office that feeds product development information back to the Atlantic Canada head office. From Newfoundland, one of the biggest challenges meeting with our customers is the cost of flights and logistics.

Craig Hubley

Agreed, Giles Crouch. Actually a shared living space with a few private rooms and a shared kitchen and facilities, like a suite, in each of these cities, would actually form much closer relationships and contact sharing between Atlantic Canadian companies, few of which are in direct competition. But most of which are probably meeting people that they cannot help, or who cannot help them, but could easily help another Atlantic Canadian entrepreneur, or be helped by them. It's one of the best ideas I've read on this.

Craig Hubley

Stephen Finn that's one of the best reasons to have a suite in remote cities where there are lots of customers, though it's possibly a better reason to have a van with a few 4K cameras and 3D scanning gear set up to go right to where the customer's issues are. Anything we can do to replace travel with telework is going to be a huge benefit to us, especially as we are so central on the low latency fibre optic cables from this region.

Andrew Menchions

Stephen Finn there are companies in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia doing just as you ask about. It can work with a well trained team (both local and remote sides) - and as always when working at a distance, superior team communications are critical.

Sabrina Poirier

Excellent insights.

[Disclaimer: Build Ventures is a client of Entrevestor.]