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Choosing New York over San Francisco

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Re: Choosing New York over San Francisco

#91

Post by chaostheory »

Every once in awhile, you see a Google emerge from the Valley. But for every Google emerging from the Valley, there are ten thousand equally ambitious startups that fail. Some of them fail catastrophically... Given the lifestyle in the City, products are much closer to the pavement and are a solution to a real-world problem from Day 1. Not some social network plaything.

This is the main reason NY will never usurp Silicon Valley. Tech-wise NY's culture is too conventional.

"Why build Z when X is good enough?"

"This idea is stupid."

"What's the point? It doesn't make any money."

Re: Choosing New York over San Francisco

#92

Post by bia »

noname123 wrote: post #79
bia wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretend for a second that you realize that girls read HN too. If you massage the truth about your company, it's inconceivable that I would sleep with you, let alone take you seriously.

I really appreciate the honesty here. But what are you exactly conceding to: that you'll only sleep with me if I truly earn above a pre-determined salary figure (because apparently women appreciates honesty), or that you'll still sleep with me if I come clean and tell you that I'm a just average normal thousandaire (because apparently women appreciates honesty).

Perhaps neither. In finding you attractive, I am interested in your character (your ideas, imagination, execution), so lying to me will be useless because I'm not interested in what you're working on as much as why and how you're working on it.

In taking you seriously, I am interested in your business (working with you, connecting you with people who might benefit your company), so lying to me will actually hurt you because you'll portray your company inaccurately.

Re: Choosing New York over San Francisco

#93

Post by ChristianPerry »

api wrote: post #84
zackattack wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think Boston is the best city for nerds? I'm looking for a genuinely pro-intellectual climate.

It's pro-intellectual, but it's also a bit stuffy and introverted. If you like the quiet life, lots of academic options, and very tame social gatherings then Boston is for you. If you like excitement, extraverted social culture, and lots of new experiences then I'd look at SF. Boston has some plusses: it's a walking city... possibly the only true walking city in the country (of any size). You do not need a car. It's…

I moved from SF to Boston about six months ago.

SF is a great place to build a startup, but a lousy place to live. I never felt like I could really be myself there (despite meeting hundreds of supposedly like-minded people).

Bostonians are far less friendly on the surface, but man, you can really get to know them. People are nerdy, intellectual, informed (and not just about tech), opinionated, and largely quite sane.

The pace of the city is slower, too, in a way that I appreciate. When I go to a tech event here, I'll often meet someone and spend an hour locked in conversation with them. That kind of deep, engaged conversation never happened in SF, where people are perpetually on the go, and cutting from one thing to the next.

Outside of work, Boston (and by this I specifically mean Cambridge and Somerville -- or "Camberville" as we call it) is the best place in the country to be a nerd. The place is filled with swing dancers, LARPers, grad students, cult movie screenings, comic book and game shops, and quite possibly more CTY alumni than any other city.

Simultaneously, we've got a lot of general culture, too -- lectures, theater, good food, and so on.

Stuffy and introverted? Sure, a bit. But you can get past that quickly, and discover a wonderful place to live.

Re: Choosing New York over San Francisco

#94

Post by [deleted] »

sabat wrote: post #76

Compared to New York, it’s boring. I have trouble even thinking about living in an apartment in Mountain View, Cupertino or Palo Alto. Those places are socially dead. This post suffers from the presumption that everyone wants the same thing from a city. So SF (really, the Bay Area) was not for you. It's for a lot of us. Not all of us want to suffer awful winters and unbearable summers. Some of us love natural beauty…

[deleted]

Re: Choosing New York over San Francisco

#96

Post by haseman »

wooster wrote: post #82
haseman wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure a little stop energy is such a bad thing. I'd say take their views with some salt...but Silicon Valley tends to be an echo-chamber. What's important in the valley isn't always important everywhere else. Unless your business/venture/idea is only targeted at people in the Bay Area, it pays to keep a little attention elsewhere.

Sure, but I and most of my friends and colleagues spend all day every day thinking about and working on things which could be described as "the future". The things I think are important are often things I think are going to be important 3 or more years down the road, and that's why I'm working on them. That potential may not be realized, but I can derive absolutely no value from talking about them with someone who re…

An imagined future with no grounding in the present is as useful as an oil rig on a hot air balloon. ;-) Keep inventing the future...but ignore the Luddites at your own peril.

Re: Choosing New York over San Francisco

#97

Post by capedape »

cageface wrote: post #3

Another common gripe about California that I'll echo here: there's no weather! It may sound masochistic but I miss the seasons, the snow, wearing a scarf, sheltering inside with a cold nose and hands with something warm. The passing of the seasons gives life a constant pulse and direction. The eternal summers of CA get to be disorienting after a while.

The title is talking about SF. There are seasons within neighborhoods of SF proper.

Re: Choosing New York over San Francisco

#98

Post by moxiemk1 »

probablycorey wrote: post #87

San Francisco is fun, don’t get me wrong. Compared to New York, it’s boring. I have trouble even thinking about living in an apartment in Mountain View, Cupertino or Palo Alto. Those places are socially dead. Mountain View, Cupertino or Palo Alto are not San Francisco. It is like saying... New York City is fun, don’t get me wrong. Compared to San Francisco, it’s boring. I have trouble even thinking about living in an…

True, but the error is more of a mis-choice of words ('San Francisco' instead of 'Bay Area') rather than ideas, since If we're only considering San Francisco, the tech dominance starts to fade a little bit.

Also, while we're calling people for misspeaking, Staten Island is New York City.

Re: Choosing New York over San Francisco

#99

Post by jseliger »

moxiemk1 wrote: post #98
probablycorey wrote: post #87

San Francisco is fun, don’t get me wrong. Compared to New York, it’s boring. I have trouble even thinking about living in an apartment in Mountain View, Cupertino or Palo Alto. Those places are socially dead. Mountain View, Cupertino or Palo Alto are not San Francisco. It is like saying... New York City is fun, don’t get me wrong. Compared to San Francisco, it’s boring. I have trouble even thinking about living in an…

True, but the error is more of a mis-choice of words ('San Francisco' instead of 'Bay Area') rather than ideas, since If we're only considering San Francisco, the tech dominance starts to fade a little bit. Also, while we're calling people for misspeaking, Staten Island is New York City.

Also, while we're calling people for misspeaking, Staten Island is New York City.

True, but Staten Island feels like New Jersey -- even, I suspect, to most New Yorkers. I have a friend from Staten Island, and when I talk about going back to New Jersey, it drives her crazy.

I can't imagine people from New Jersey minding being mistaken for New Yorkers...

Re: Choosing New York over San Francisco

#100

Post by sandipc »

sabat wrote: post #80
haseman wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure a little stop energy is such a bad thing. I'd say take their views with some salt...but Silicon Valley tends to be an echo-chamber. What's important in the valley isn't always important everywhere else. Unless your business/venture/idea is only targeted at people in the Bay Area, it pays to keep a little attention elsewhere.

I think the iPhone alone proves that wrong.

I really don't think the initial iPhone announcement was a "non-event" anywhere in the US, and especially in New York...
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