Take equal marriage for example. There was a treaty between Canada and the US that said all marriages would be respected. So the US knew that Canada was the most likely to pass equal marriage first, so they focussed their efforts on getting it legal in Canada so that way it could be challenged in US courts based on the agreement with Canada. It worked and by the time the issue was challenged and reached the US Supreme Court, equal
Marriage was made legal in spite of Bush’s Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA). There are many instances of this cross border advantage, including most Broadway productions, which launch for a year in Toronto before they ever open in New York so that the show can be tested in a similar market before it goes live on Broadway. And many more examples. Grindr needs to open a Toronto office. I used to work on contract for M4M4Sex in Toronto as the Canadian Country Director of sorts. I then moved to Ottawa to work on Parliament Hill for various elected leaders, but prior to leaving, I made particular note of the apps that were thinking by having a US market, they sufficed regarding Canada.

Grindr should have its own look and feel for Canada in small ways, and should also focus on the French market, as well as including Canadian information in the profile options. The Canadian Government is not kind to apps that don’t do these things, and it will only get worse when the next Conservative Government is elected. You need to hire someone as a Toronto-based Country Director (not Ottawa, you won’t have enough legislative work to warrant it and it’s a quick 45 minute flight from Toronto anyway), and you need to have a plan to harness the many opportunities that Canada’s pro LGBTQ climate, who should work with whomever you hire for your Government Relations position in Washington. In actual reality, you could probably split a role like that where your US Government Relations person is actually Canadian, because it is often a lot easier to lobby the US when someone is from Canada, because our lobbies are not viewed the same way as all of the American lobbiests. Someone who works part time in Toronto and part time in Washington would make tremendous sense. I’m almost wanting to apply for the position myself as I think about it so I highly encourage Grindr to consider what I’ve said. And please do let me know if you do something like this, I may just consider applying.

Grindr should also venture into a small production company (film and online video) and it should be in Toronto, as Canadian film credits are much more lucrative than filming in LA. There are many reasons Grindr would benefit from starting its own production company especially in Canada, but we can save that for another time. Best of luck, keep in touch!