Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Where are the opportunities outside of Silicon Valley?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 30 posts

Re: Ask HN: Where are the opportunities outside of Silicon Valley?

#11

Post by enraged_camel »

wensing wrote: post #10
enraged_camel wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny you mention Chicago. I'm there right now for a business trip, and decided I'd love to move here. I was wondering about the startup scene though... I currently live in Long Beach, CA which is 30 mins south of LA, and it blows. There is a distinct lack of techies and nobody is working on solving interesting problems. Maybe it's different in LA proper though.

What makes you say you'd love to move to Chicago?

I like the vibe of the city. There's a ton of interesting things to do, people pay attention to their appearance, and the architecture is awesome. Plus, it's not ultra-crowded like NYC, which makes real-estate affordable.

Re: Ask HN: Where are the opportunities outside of Silicon Valley?

#13

Post by [deleted] »

001sky wrote: post #6

Quality of life- the Bay Area has unrivaled weather : It sounds like you've never lived a whole year in SF weather! Although its nicer certain times of year in palo alto or berkeley, etc. =] To answer your question, though: consider specialty niche. SV - For pure tech or big-blue-sky-idea-ish. Also, anything HW (viz apple, chips, tesla etc) or hands-on engineering. NY -Doesn't have the "tinker in the garage" culture…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Where are the opportunities outside of Silicon Valley?

#15

Post by eli_gottlieb »

jfasi wrote: post #2

New York is going to be the second choice here, I think. The culture is certainly a little different in terms of VCs and the sorts of companies that take up residence there, but it's a great place to be. After that, having spent a good length of time in Boston, I can say that there is a small but very healthy startup community there.

After that, having spent a good length of time in Boston, I can say that there is a small but very healthy startup community there.

Boston's tech community isn't small, it's just spread out around the entire ring-highway encircling metro Boston.

Re: Ask HN: Where are the opportunities outside of Silicon Valley?

#16

Post by querying »

wh-uws wrote: post #3
jfasi wrote: post #2

New York is going to be the second choice here, I think. The culture is certainly a little different in terms of VCs and the sorts of companies that take up residence there, but it's a great place to be. After that, having spent a good length of time in Boston, I can say that there is a small but very healthy startup community there.

Yeah my purely speculative, non scientific list goes like this: 1) The Bay Area (Silicon Valley + SF etc.) - Pretty much perpetually 2) NYC 3) Austin,Tx and Boston are tied 3.5) Chicago 4) Seattle, Boulder,Co ; and Los Angeles are tied 5) Any other major city with a good engineering school in the vicinity or other major money industry with that needs a few Computer Science and/or IT guys around (i.e. Oil) A few citie…

Boston and the surrounding area including southern New Hampshire. There is a mini tech boom happening there and the tax situation in NH is extremely good for startups. You also have access to a huge pool of talent from all of the surrounding schools in New England.

Re: Ask HN: Where are the opportunities outside of Silicon Valley?

#18

Post by JOnAgain »

Not making these lists is LA, which I like. Specifically West Side. Santa Monica is great, and easily best weather of any of these listed. Good nightlife in Hollywood. Better startup scene than Seattle (at least relative to 2 years ago, haven't checked out Seattle startups in a while). Also, don't underestimate the value of a well-connected airport. If you're not in the bay or NYC, you'll have to travel a lot if you're connected. LAX is remarkably accessible from the West Side, and has flights to everywhere leaving in 2 hours. Seattle has one of the least accessible and least connected airports. Portland would be worse. I hear good things about Austin.

Re: Ask HN: Where are the opportunities outside of Silicon Valley?

#19

Post by tptacek »

enraged_camel wrote: post #7
wh-uws wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah my purely speculative, non scientific list goes like this: 1) The Bay Area (Silicon Valley + SF etc.) - Pretty much perpetually 2) NYC 3) Austin,Tx and Boston are tied 3.5) Chicago 4) Seattle, Boulder,Co ; and Los Angeles are tied 5) Any other major city with a good engineering school in the vicinity or other major money industry with that needs a few Computer Science and/or IT guys around (i.e. Oil) A few citie…

Funny you mention Chicago. I'm there right now for a business trip, and decided I'd love to move here. I was wondering about the startup scene though... I currently live in Long Beach, CA which is 30 mins south of LA, and it blows. There is a distinct lack of techies and nobody is working on solving interesting problems. Maybe it's different in LA proper though.

I don't think Chicago is a great place to move to in anticipation of finding a job at a startup. It is, on the other hand, a fantastic place to move to to start one.

Re: Ask HN: Where are the opportunities outside of Silicon Valley?

#20

Post by dccoolgai »

Here's my "Short List" beyond the obvious ones (NY, Chicago, Boston):

Pittsburgh - Steady growth of banking and insurance has created a nice raft of demand for developers. (+) Great museums/culture, (+) food and (+) social scenes. (-) Stiff winters (although not as bad as some other places). (-) Requires a car, really. (+) Super-cheap rent.

D.C. - This is where I live now. Overall, I'm happy with it and don't plan on leaving anytime soon. Government, Non-Profit Associations, Defense and Politics provide an enormous raft of demand. Even mediocre developers can switch jobs at a whim and most smart employers know that and act accordingly. (+) Tons of free culture and activities. (+) Great infrastructure (car not necessary if you live by a metro). (-) Not much of a "startup scene", per se, but (+) insane opportunities for consulting. (You're not going to start a billion-dollar startup in DC, but you have a much better chance of starting a multi-million-dollar business than probably anywhere else in the country.) (-) Summers are nasty and humid. (Probably only Florida, Louisiana are worse). (+) Spring, Autumn are awesome and winters are (usually) mild. (-) Rent is expensive (but not like NY/SF/LA.)

Post reply on HN