How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#171

Post by tostitos1979 » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 11:46 PM UTC

Xcelerate wrote: post #146

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…

Well, you've described the items on my dream list perfectly, but it's quite the antithesis of my girlfriend's list. Her list includes: - calm, peaceful nights - suburban house with a yard and a dog - a comfortable car and well-kept roads - internet good enough to stream Netflix - quality local universities that offer tuition scholarships Unmarried 18-30 year olds are quite a diverse bunch.

Agreed. I'd say that the 5+ dollar latte is going to run its course one day very soon. Modern young people have a slew of problems that previous generations cannot fathom. Some of my friends don't have cars - not because they don't want them but because they are financially cognizant. They are focused on paying off student debt asap. They have advanced degrees but are fighting insane competition to get jobs (I have a lot of academics as friends :) ). People have shifted their expectations of life, especially those without rich parents who can lend a hand. At gatherings, we fantasize about moving to cities with low housing costs.

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#172

Post by ZanyProgrammer » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 11:48 PM UTC

davidw wrote: post #60

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?

It's partially political: the University of Oregon is in Eugene, and has always been the main university in Oregon, followed by OSU in Corvallis. Along these lines, I'm quite pleased that Bend is getting a university, OSU Cascades, which is something that has been lacking over here.

What Portland is really missing is a "Northern Oregon University"-a smaller public liberal arts college, along the lines of WOU, etc.

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#173

Post by fvargas » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 11:50 PM UTC

As a current CMU student and startup founder, I agree with Paul's observations about the environment and the kind of people Pittsburgh attracts. I've witnessed firsthand the startup culture that is churning, and I don't doubt it will continue to grow.

However, the comparison between Silicon Valley and Pittsburgh Paul omitted has to do with the weather. Any freshman at CMU can tell you that the winter (and fall, and spring) in Pittsburgh are less than pleasant. Just last week it was snowing, in April. The fact is, for more than half the year, people won't be able to fully enjoy all those cafe's, restaurants, and cycling. The cold, rain, and snow do impact the day to day life of the people who live here and it's a factor of life that can't be overlooked. For many people, the choice between similar jobs in San Francisco and Pittsburgh is an easy one in favor of San Francisco.

Pittsburgh's startup culture is growing, and there are great companies springing up here. But as a founder, I see Pittsburgh as a jumping off point. I don't wish to live with this kind of weather any longer than I have to. Not when I have the option to setup an HQ in San Francisco. And I know the people I want working with me now and in the future feel the same way.

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#174

Post by timv » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 11:54 PM UTC

Can you imagine a headline "City ruined by becoming too bicycle-friendly?" It just doesn't happen.

It's pretty close to that in Sydney. Conservative media voices are fairly unanimous in their derision of Sydney City Council's attempts to build a network of bicycle lanes through the CBD.

I hold the opposite view, despite never riding in the city, but it's definitely a strongly divisive issue.

http://www.governmentnews.com.au/2016/04/why-sydney-hates-cy...

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#175

Post by bluedino » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 11:57 PM UTC

fvargas wrote: post #173

As a current CMU student and startup founder, I agree with Paul's observations about the environment and the kind of people Pittsburgh attracts. I've witnessed firsthand the startup culture that is churning, and I don't doubt it will continue to grow. However, the comparison between Silicon Valley and Pittsburgh Paul omitted has to do with the weather. Any freshman at CMU can tell you that the winter (and fall, and s…

The weather isn't that bad. There isn't the 40 degree below zero temperatures of Minnesota or North Dakota. There are dumplings of 20 inches of snow in one day. You can do lots of activities in the winter: skiing, snowmobiling, hiking, ice fishing...

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#176

Post by draw_down » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 11:58 PM UTC

abalone wrote: post #140

I for one "treat the people starting these little restaurants and cafes as your users" in SF and I can tell you, the permitting process is not the biggest problem. It's costs. Commercial rents have skyrocketed. Moreover, residential rents have skyrocketed to the point where few people in the service industry can afford to live in SF at market rates. Even if you can find a space, how are you going to staff it? Who's w…

Maybe we don't want to continue. Maybe the insane rents will cause closures of a lot of the places that make SF attractive to the tech workers, and slowly SF will become less of a destination for them, and they will start flocking to other places instead of to SF. And then maybe tech companies will have to open offices elsewhere and the situation will equalize itself that way. But then I'm not personally invested in SF staying a tech hub.

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#177

Post by dbcurtis » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 11:58 PM UTC

Animats wrote: post #11

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…

> In California, anything you do on your own time belongs to you, and the previous employer can't enforce most non-compete agreements.

This X100. Add in the fact that Stanford makes it easy for faculty to weave in and out of industry, and those facts explain a lot.

Stanford didn't always pull in a lot of government research money. See http://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?articl...

It took a long time for Sili Vally to become Sili Valley, and a confluence of factors.

CMU has grant money coming in. But CMU seems to pride itself on being Scottishly tight-fisted with how it treats the IP of faculty and students. And tight-fisted about everything else -- About a year ago I attended accepted student's day with my daughter (accepted to both Carnegie's College of Computer Science and Institute of Technology) and I got the distinct impression that CMU is not very flexible and is not very generous about much of anything -- kind of a state school attitude at private school prices. (My daughter chose MIT over CMU.)

So I think to make Pittsburgh work as a start-up hub, it will take CMU being a little more open, some more inventor-friendly IP laws by the state of PA, and patience. And somehow you have to keep the first generation of successful entrepreneurs around to be the VC's for the next generation.

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#178

Post by wbl » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 11:59 PM UTC

timr wrote: post #164

abalone wrote: post #140

I for one "treat the people starting these little restaurants and cafes as your users" in SF and I can tell you, the permitting process is not the biggest problem. It's costs. Commercial rents have skyrocketed. Moreover, residential rents have skyrocketed to the point where few people in the service industry can afford to live in SF at market rates. Even if you can find a space, how are you going to staff it? Who's w…

Yep. San Francisco no longer has marginal spaces -- every conceivable inch of it has been claimed, developed, and/or bid into the stratosphere. And it has nothing to do with "NIMBYs" or lack of development. It's a tiny, tiny patch of land, all of the build-able portions of which have been speculated upon since the early 20th century. This is important, because while cafes and universities and whatnot are important, y…

Actually, much of the city isn't a city but a suburb. If you stand on Twin Peaks looking south, you will not see a single part denser than New Jersey. There is plenty of room above SF that is not used.

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#179

Post by beatpanda » Wed, Apr 13, 2016, 12:00 AM UTC

timr wrote: post #164

abalone wrote: post #140

I for one "treat the people starting these little restaurants and cafes as your users" in SF and I can tell you, the permitting process is not the biggest problem. It's costs. Commercial rents have skyrocketed. Moreover, residential rents have skyrocketed to the point where few people in the service industry can afford to live in SF at market rates. Even if you can find a space, how are you going to staff it? Who's w…

Yep. San Francisco no longer has marginal spaces -- every conceivable inch of it has been claimed, developed, and/or bid into the stratosphere. And it has nothing to do with "NIMBYs" or lack of development. It's a tiny, tiny patch of land, all of the build-able portions of which have been speculated upon since the early 20th century. This is important, because while cafes and universities and whatnot are important, y…

PG was wrong to say that you cannot be too strict about historic preservation because it leads to the exact problem we have in SF right now -- there is no physical reason this city can't be more dense and remain beautiful (look at Paris for an example of how this might be possible), but there are many, many political reasons.

Re: How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub

#180

Post by draw_down » Wed, Apr 13, 2016, 12:02 AM UTC

fvargas wrote: post #173

As a current CMU student and startup founder, I agree with Paul's observations about the environment and the kind of people Pittsburgh attracts. I've witnessed firsthand the startup culture that is churning, and I don't doubt it will continue to grow. However, the comparison between Silicon Valley and Pittsburgh Paul omitted has to do with the weather. Any freshman at CMU can tell you that the winter (and fall, and s…

Yes, the weather is a big problem. Whenever I think about returning to Pittsburgh I know I can't do it, or at least would really rather not, because the weather is so much better out west.

Ironically PG did point out Pittsburgh's weather as a sticking point in another essay some years ago, not sure which one at the moment.