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How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

paulgraham.com

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Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#11

Post by Animats »

Uber is building a self-driving car research center in Pittsburgh. They hired most of the CMU self-driving car people. Supposedly they're going to renovate a railroad roundhouse in Hazelwood and use some of the empty space from the old coke plant for road testing. How's that working out?

In California, anything you do on your own time belongs to you, and the previous employer can't enforce most non-compete agreements. So you can leave and do a startup even if your old employer doesn't like it. That's an edge Silicon Valley has and no other state has had the guts to copy.

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#12

Post by matt_wulfeck »

Im convinced that the next valley will happen in the place that can attract the most unmarried people ages 18 through 30. What do these people care about?

- night life

- high density urban living

- progressive local governments and freedom (drug and marriage decriminalization).

- good public transportation

- access to high speed internet

- good universities

As they grow older and get married, affordable and high speed public transportation will allow them to move without causing terminal urban sprawl.

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#15

Post by minimaxir »

I'm a CMU undergraduate who moved to San Francisco.

Every year, the School of Computer Science publishes a survey of where undergrads go after college: https://www.cmu.edu/career/salaries-and-destinations/2015-su... [pdf]

About half of the 2015 graduates go to employment in the West/CA.

I'll add that I am not even a graduate in CS (I majored in Business), yet I know a lot of non-CS majors my year who have also moved out here.

California is where the prestigious jobs are. And that's what matters at the end. Is Pittsburgh capable of supporting a Silicon Valley? Not as long as Pittsburgh's weather remains the way it is, anyways.

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#16

Post by seibelj »

Somewhat unrelated, but a lot of people complain about Boston being too expensive, like SF or NYC, but honestly you can live downtown inexpensively if you live in Chinatown, or within subway distance if you live in Jamaica Plain, Dorchester, or Roxbury, which become cheaper (and less safe) in that order. You don't need to live in Cambridge / Somerville / Back Bay / Seaport.

If you are seriously considering moving to Pittsburgh or someplace similar because of cost, look at Boston, which is way closer culturally to Silicon Valley than any second tier tech city, and don't focus on living in the prime locations.

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#17

Post by rib3ye »

matt_wulfeck wrote: post #12

Im convinced that the next valley will happen in the place that can attract the most unmarried people ages 18 through 30. What do these people care about? - night life - high density urban living - progressive local governments and freedom (drug and marriage decriminalization). - good public transportation - access to high speed internet - good universities As they grow older and get married, affordable and high spee…

Start with the money (large projects financed by the federal government like NASA, then VCs). That will create the foundation.

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#18

Post by santaclaus »

gravypod wrote: post #10
santaclaus wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Well, and time. I imagine it would take 3 to 5 years to start poaching and recruiting new, top faculty. These top faculty in turn have to recruit top PhD students and assemble research labs, which is going to take time as the school is not yet mentioned among the top 10-20 programs. Tack a few more years on for enough publications to hit top venues. This is probably at least a decade to hit the level of, say, USC, let alone crack the top 10 or even top 3 occupied by the likes of a CMU or a Stanford or a Berkeley.

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#19

Post by [deleted] »

matt_wulfeck wrote: post #12

Im convinced that the next valley will happen in the place that can attract the most unmarried people ages 18 through 30. What do these people care about? - night life - high density urban living - progressive local governments and freedom (drug and marriage decriminalization). - good public transportation - access to high speed internet - good universities As they grow older and get married, affordable and high spee…

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