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The Decline of Investment in San Francisco Startups

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Re: The Decline of Investment in San Francisco Startups

#111

Post by blahblah12 »

toephu2 wrote: post #72
timothycrosley wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seattle. Lose ~2-5 thousand a year in income on average as a Software engineer, save 1-2 thousand a month on rent, and no income tax: https://www.codementor.io/blog/best-cities-software-engineer...

Every city has its pros and cons. Seattle is no exception. You move to Seattle so you can save a couple bucks, okay so what? Then you get seasonal depression because its overcast all the time.* *except during summer when it's beautiful

this. so much this. A thousand times this. You have no idea how much it affects you to be in a city that has gray skies for like 3/4 the year. You can go days without seeing the sun in the Winter. Honestly, I theorize, half-jokingly, that Seattle's startup scene never took off because people get too depressed by the weather and give up.

Re: The Decline of Investment in San Francisco Startups

#112

Post by _pmf_ »

TrickyRick wrote: post #107
_pmf_ wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is any AR/VR company working on anything like that? Probably every AR/VR company not working on games.

Which ones would that be? Of the top of my head I only know of the Hololens being developed mostly for professional use, any other AR/VR tech is all gaming, gaming, gaming.

> Which ones would that be?

Oh, I did not imply that there are any, just that the only largish applications besides games and "experiences" are probably fancy vanity applications for businesses.

Re: The Decline of Investment in San Francisco Startups

#114

Post by Hydraulix989 »

randomdata wrote: post #94
pcwalton wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The simple fact is that there are a lot of people who need to live in the Bay Area. Wishing people would just leave is what the NIMBY organizations have been trying for decades. It doesn't work, and it inflicts undue hardship on everyone who wasn't one of the lucky ones who bought in early. The only thing that does work is confronting the fact that a lot of people need to live here and encouraging housing supply to m…

The economic need will, of course, compensate for higher housing costs by providing higher compensation, which ultimately makes housing costs a moot issue for anyone providing value to the local economy. As someone from outside of the region, what reasons necessitate that a lot of people be in the Bay Area that is beyond the economic need?

Compensation isn't nearly as elastic as housing prices though.

Not only that, the demand side for housing is also the supply side for the job market, so prices are squeezed on both sides.

Re: The Decline of Investment in San Francisco Startups

#115

Post by nailer »

This is excellent opportunity for anyone who wants investment from west coast VCs but doesn't want to deal with San Francisco, Oakland or the bay area.

San Francisco frequently has human feces on the sidewalk in many areas right near the city center, high housing prices and a combination of startup bros and angry hard left outrage culture folk. The bay area is a cultureless void and Oakland is still dangerous.

Better Portland, LA or (from what I hear) Boulder.

Re: The Decline of Investment in San Francisco Startups

#116

Post by afpx »

fatbird wrote: post #46
aphextron wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost comical how overcrowded BART has gotten at rush hour. Embarcadero and Powell stations become standing room only. I live deep in the east bay, and the new apartment building going up across the street has 1 bedroom layouts starting at $2800. Something has to give, or people will simply give up.

People should give up. People should leave the area. They should move where they can find a job and a cost of living that's reasonable. The fact that people don't give up is why landlords can afford to charge $2,800/month for a 1 bedroom. You can't rent at $2,800/month if no one will sign the lease.

I stay here because I've not found any place on Earth that's as good for working in technology. And, every year, this area creeps even further ahead. It's just an amazing place. So, I tolerate the pain for the opportunity to enjoy my career to the fullest.

Re: The Decline of Investment in San Francisco Startups

#117

Post by narrator »

kevinburke wrote: post #6

Both top-level comments have mentioned housing prices. I grew up in the Bay Area and want to stay here and I am trying to work to change policy to help build more housing. Unfortunately due to law, bad policy and NIMBY's the market is not going to solve this problem on its own, without political change rents and housing prices will keep increasing. Here are some political actions you can take to help: - call your Sta…

Why does everyone have to squeeze into San Francisco and the peninsula? Can't you tech workers gentrify West Oakland at least? Guess a few street thugs are a force more powerful than million dollar home prices. I bet those guys are really proud of the chaos they create that forces all of you to avoid their neighborhoods.

Re: The Decline of Investment in San Francisco Startups

#118

Post by cjrp »

richardknop wrote: post #93
aphextron wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost comical how overcrowded BART has gotten at rush hour. Embarcadero and Powell stations become standing room only. I live deep in the east bay, and the new apartment building going up across the street has 1 bedroom layouts starting at $2800. Something has to give, or people will simply give up.

That's normal in every major city. Tube is stand only during rush hour.

Ditto most suburban trains into London.

Re: The Decline of Investment in San Francisco Startups

#119

Post by nailer »

narrator wrote: post #117
kevinburke wrote: post #6

Both top-level comments have mentioned housing prices. I grew up in the Bay Area and want to stay here and I am trying to work to change policy to help build more housing. Unfortunately due to law, bad policy and NIMBY's the market is not going to solve this problem on its own, without political change rents and housing prices will keep increasing. Here are some political actions you can take to help: - call your Sta…

Why does everyone have to squeeze into San Francisco and the peninsula? Can't you tech workers gentrify West Oakland at least? Guess a few street thugs are a force more powerful than million dollar home prices. I bet those guys are really proud of the chaos they create that forces all of you to avoid their neighborhoods.

npm and uber are in Oakland.

Edit per comment below: uber Oakland office was going to 3000 people, but yeah, now it's been reduced to a few hundred: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/03/20/uber-scales-back-initi...

Re: The Decline of Investment in San Francisco Startups

#120

Post by 998213981381 »

afpx wrote: post #116
fatbird wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People should give up. People should leave the area. They should move where they can find a job and a cost of living that's reasonable. The fact that people don't give up is why landlords can afford to charge $2,800/month for a 1 bedroom. You can't rent at $2,800/month if no one will sign the lease.

I stay here because I've not found any place on Earth that's as good for working in technology. And, every year, this area creeps even further ahead. It's just an amazing place. So, I tolerate the pain for the opportunity to enjoy my career to the fullest.

I don't understand this sentiment. Whenever I see an announcement out of Silicon Valley, it is invariable an old technology hyped as the latest sensation.

Compare that with for example Microsoft Research, who actually do things I find interesting.

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