7/25/2019 Uber Support: Open Letter From Members of the BC Tech Community

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Open Letter from Members of the BC Tech Community:

As part of the tech community in British Columbia, we are deeply committed to continuing to

build our province up as a world leader in innovation. As such, we are compelled to express our

concern regarding the provincial governments long-standing inaction on ridesharing regulation

in BC -- and how we now find ourselves falling behind the rest of the world.

When it comes to tech and innovation, Vancouver ranks in the top 20 in the world, sitting at the

same table as Seattle, Austin, New York, and yes, even San Francisco. With forces like

Hootsuite, Slack, and Plentyoffish at the helm, we attribute this to having a culture that fosters

innovation, entrepreneurship, and new ideas. Kelowna and Victoria also have growing tech

clusters, with companies such FreshGrade, Club Penguin, and AbeBooks making massive

impacts in representing their respective communities, and were seeing connections grow

internationally thanks to events such as TractionConf and metabridge.

It is not lost on us as citizens of a province and city that prides itself in being called SiliconValley North, that Vancouver remains the largest metropolitan area in North America without

ridesharing. (Yes-- were referring to the Ubers, the Lyfts, and the local startups that help us get

around safely, quickly and affordably.) And both here at home in Canada and around the world,

governments are taking the steps necessary to allow ridesharing services while the Province of

British Columbia has chosen to do nothing.

With the cost of living skyrocketing, and the wet winter months having arrived, now more than

ever, were in need of more reliable and affordable transportation options. And yet weve shut

our doors to a revolutionary solution that will take cars off the road, and collectively save us

thousands of dollars every month in parking and fuel costs.

Yes, change is disruptive. But as with all new ideas, in the long run our citizens, our

communities and our province will benefit by leaps and bounds. They will have another option to

get home safely on a rainy Saturday night. They will have new income opportunities. And, BCs

entrepreneurs will be encouraged that their own disruptive ideas will not be needlessly blocked

by outdated regulations.

Ridesharing is available in 67 countries in over 360 cities around the world. Its time the

province makes space for it here in BC.

Sincerely yours,

Ray Walia, Co-Founder & CEO, Launch Academy

Alex Chuang, Co-Founder & CSO, Launch Academy

Stewart Butterfield, CEO & Co-Founder, Slack

Boris Wertz, Founder & General Partner, Version One Ventures

Jeff Booth, President & CEO, BuildDirect.com

7/25/2019 Uber Support: Open Letter From Members of the BC Tech Community

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Shafin Diamond Tejani, Alchemist, Victory Square Labs

Shahrzad Rafati, Founder & CEO, BroadbandTV Corp

Jeremy Shaki, Co-Founder & Chief Talking Officer, Lighthouse Labs

Ian Crosby, CEO, Bench

Tanis Jorge, Co-Founder, Trulioo

Kelsey Hannan, Founder, Critical Pulse Inc.Steve Wandler, Co-Founder, FreshGrade

Andrew Reid, Founder & President, Vision Critical

Roger Hardy, Chairman, Hardy Capital Partners

Hamed Shahbazi, CEO, TIO Networks

Joshua Nilson, CEO & Co-Founder, East Side Games

Kenshi Arasaki, Co-Founder, A Thinking Ape

Michael Gokturk, Founder & CEO, Payfirma

Nathan Gilliland, CEO, General Fusion

Jason Smith, CEO, Klue

Scott Hawthorn, CEO, Native ShoesVern Brownell, CEO, D-Wave Systems Inc.