Arthur H. Lam

Founding partner, Nexus Strategic Consultants | Public Sector Strategy | @waterlooeng & @rotmanschool Alum

[Matt Loszak @MattLoszak]

I moved to America almost exactly 1000 days ago and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

The move wasn't easy -- I had crazy immigration challenges, lived out of a duffel bag for months, and had to pay a massive Canadian exit tax on illiquid shares from my last company that easily could have bankrupted me.

But it was so incredibly worth it.

If it had been possible to start Aalo in Canada, or if there had been any other country where we would have had a higher probability of success, I would have started it there.

But there is simply no better place on Earth to start a company like this than the United States of America.

Just insane levels of talent, capital, customers, ambition and opportunity.

So proud of what we've achieved so far at Aalo and super excited about what the next 1000 days will bring.

Grateful to the DOE, INL, BEA, our team, and everyone else who helped us get to where we are today.

Happy 250th America 🇺🇸

[MyFriendAlex @MyFriendAlex]

Here’s the secret sauce: 👇👌

[Aidan Gomez @aidangomez]

Nick, Ivan, and I wrote a short piece on Canada’s role in artificial intelligence in the decades prior and the decades ahead. We as a country need to choose to compete to build, and resource ourselves to do that.

Our nation has the talent and ambition to succeed. Our former technology strategies across capital deployment and market adoption have failed. It’s time we take a more aggressive and strategic approach to capability development to ensure we control our destiny, protect our home, and build a foundation that gives the next generation advantage to build up.

There’s a bright future to be built if we’re willing to do what it takes to build it.

[matt roberts @mattroberts]

Latest post from me:

Canada is privatizing the only national semiconductor fab it has left and its doing it without a strategy for what comes next.

Link below 👇

[matt roberts @mattroberts]

What I cannot reconcile: three days after announcing the privatization of the only compound semiconductor facility in North America, Minister Solomon told BetaKit that Canada does not need a national semiconductor strategy.

https://t.co/isTudNli6o

[Matina Stevis-Gridneff @MatinaStevis]

Detailed and interesting critique of the new Canadian sovereign wealth fund, by @Simon_Nixon - recommend a close read #cdnpoli

https://t.co/RpayH7An8Q

[Arthur H. Lam @arthurhlam]

@Ethan_Lou Congrats! It was (and still is) a great read

[Arthur H. Lam @arthurhlam]

@build_canada

[Prem Sikka @premnsikka]

Samsung family in South Korea pays off record $8bn inheritance tax bill. IHT rate is 50%.

The family said that "paying taxes is a natural duty of citizens".

It establishes a benchmark for others.

Can you imagine the super-rich doing the same in the UK?
https://t.co/CdxHIhbKer

[Aidan Gomez @aidangomez]

Great example of why private deployments are important not just for large enterprises but everyone. If you control the model, you control the costs.

[Arthur H. Lam @arthurhlam]

@lucyhargreaves4 We are already in a trade war, both on this continent and across the globe. The SWF/war bond distinction matters less than the outcome. This kind of mobilization makes sense given the moment we are in.

[Adam Tooze @adam_tooze]

America Is in the Middle of a Stealth Manufacturing Boom, as shown in this visual from the WSJ. More featured on today's Chartbook Top Links in the comment below.

[Michael Pettis @michaelxpettis]

1/3
Putting tariffs on Canada and Mexico makes no sense at all, even though they run trade surpluses with the US.

That's because in a hyper-globalized world, trade imbalances are always resolved systemically, never bilaterally.
https://t.co/M382OjWzJ2

[Semafor @semafor]

Asked at Semafor World Economy about Canada’s former trade chief suggesting time is on Canada’s side in upcoming trade talks, @howardlutnick tells @semaforben:

“That is like the worst strategy I’ve ever heard. They suck."

[Vass Bednar @VassB]

"We are rightly worried about who gets trumped on tariffs. But it is who trumps on data that will shape the digital economy for decades to come."

[Kurtis Broda @kurtis_broda]

This leaves much of the Canadian Space Agency's major programs in ruins.

This is what is so frustrating about the CSA's strategy. They cancelled the program we had control over (lunar rover) to go all in on missions Canada has no control over (Lunar Gateway, using foreign providers for WildFireSat).

Hopefully this is a wakeup call to focus on Canadian missions with Canadian technology.

[SBA @SBAgov]

📢 NO LOAN FEES FOR U.S. MANUFACTURERS!

In FY2026, SBA is waiving upfront fees for small manufacturers.

These include:
✅ 0% upfront fee for 7(a) manufacturing loans of up to $950,000
✅ 0% upfront fee and annual service fee for all 504 manufacturing loans

Connect with a lender today! https://t.co/2WEDrqNTfv

[Arthur H. Lam @arthurhlam]

@VassB @L_Cottingham02 @WabKinew It is well known that all consumer package goods and retailers leverage extensive data analytics to drive their pricing strategy. Check out this job at Sobeys: https://t.co/ccOyZhgpmK

[David Shapiro (L/0) @DaveShapi]

This will be very interesting because, yes, the barrier of entry is going to drop.

But that means every TAM is going to be saturated very quickly.

And the only moat will be execution speed and reach, which is going to be based upon things like reputation and trust.

And ultimately, the margins will collapse for most of the startups, and they will consolidate.

[Sean Mullin @MullinSean]

Very proud to launch Sovereign by Design, a new report I co-authored with Jaxson Khan at U of T's Munk School. At ~80 pages, it's the most comprehensive treatment of AI sovereignty in Canada to date.

Read it at https://t.co/o5TGbYqIBo

[John Ruffolo @ruffoloj]

Canada’s innovators don’t lack ambition. They lack capital.
Over the past few months I’ve had dozens of conversations with founders across Canada. A quiet anxiety keeps surfacing.
It isn’t about talent. It isn’t about ideas.
It isn’t about work ethic. It’s about capital formation