Live data from Hacker News

How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

paulgraham.com

1–10 of 367 posts

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#2
> If an investor community grows up here, it will happen the same way it did in Silicon Valley: slowly and organically.

I love this. I'm in Kansas City and find myself constantly cringing at the number of projects that all try to be a silver bullet that will magically transform the startup ecosystem here or in any other midwest city. If you want to make some place a good place for startups, then you have to play the long game.

You can't be beholden to any political cycles. You can't jump on the startup bandwagon because it's suddenly fashionable. You can't run for the hills as soon as the economy takes a substantive dip.

The only answer is to put your head down and try to build whatever you can, and stick with it. If a large number of people do that, then over time, good things will happen.

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#4
"But if a university really wanted to help its students start startups, the empirical evidence, weighted by market cap, suggests the best thing they can do is literally nothing." This is an important insight and will be totally counterintuitive to universities.

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#7
post #3

I would love to see this happen. (I'd also love to see Portland Oregon, mentioned as an alternative, get the world-class research university it lacks now.)

Given unlimited funds, could a school like OHSU or PSU realistically gear up to 'world-class research' status quickly?

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#10
post #3

I would love to see this happen. (I'd also love to see Portland Oregon, mentioned as an alternative, get the world-class research university it lacks now.)

Given unlimited funds, could a school like OHSU or PSU realistically gear up to 'world-class research' status quickly?

The only thing that's expensive about R&D is the people. The materials, and the ideas are nearly free.
Post reply on HN