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Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

crainsnewyork.com

61–70 of 209 posts

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#61
"official"

FTEs is one way to slice it, but kind of dumb.

Seattle is home to two of the five biggest tech companies in the US.

Boston has had an IPO every year for the last ten years that exceeds any in NYC history.

LA has had the only 11-digit IPO in the last five years, outside of the bay area. It's also capturing the zeitgeist in a way that NYC no longer does (that's subjective, of course, but I'd debate it).

Just by market cap, Sydney's three biggest tech co's would are more impressive than NYC's.

NYC is an awesome startup city, but the idea that it's the clear #2 is silly.

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#62

The best part about tech in NYC is that it isn't a non-stop, in-your-face bubble the way that it is in SF/SJ. I work in tech but enjoy having friends in fashion, finance, real estate, advertising, etc. The conversations here are much more diverse. Interestingly, that same diversity helps improve the tech sector.

I completely agree.

I also love the influence NYC industries have on tech startups. Warby Parker is tech+fashion, Buzzfeed is tech+media, Betterment is tech+finance.

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#63
post #6
post #3

Cheaper rent than Silicon Valley, tons of cultural diversity, and amazing food. Really nice place to live.

High stress, high pollution, rat race of a lifestyle, you are regulated and taxed on more things you even thought possible, and one of the worst imaginable places to try and raise a family. It has it's pros and cons, but I think we both agree it is certainly better than Silicon Valley. It's great if you are a young professional figuring out the world, but eventually people want their space and be able to stretch out…

I'm raising my family in NYC, I disagree that it's one of the worst imaginable places to try and raise a family. There are a lot of activities for children, from the parks, to indoor play areas, to the libraries, etc. You can just about anything you need by walking. The public schools have been improving - you can try for one of the elite gifted and talented schools but even if that doesn't work out, there are many more good school options than there have been in the past. It's certainly not a cheap place to live, but I actually can't imagine a better place to raise a family. I don't know if there's any more pollution than any other major city. There's no major manufacturing that happens in NYC, so the pollution would mostly be from cars. In general, the city is becoming less and less car friendly - they are seriously considering a congestion pricing program - so I would expect whatever pollution there may be to actually improve. Nevertheless, pollution has never been one of the major complaints of most NYC folk. Yes, taxes can run high. You can always live outside the city if this is an issue but despite this, people prefer to live in the city as long as they can. High stress is really more a virtue of your job, not the city. There are many people who live here and don't want to live anywhere else. As they say, your bedroom is where you sleep - your living room is the entire city.

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#64

I really want to move to NYC. As a full stack developer in SF I only get interest from companies in the Bay Area. All my NYC applications get no response even if it's the same resume with locations removed. Am I missing something? Can someone who has mde a similar move cue me in? I have 4 years of full stack experience. Do people tailor their resume for NYC companies?

We're in NY and looking for full stack engineers w/experience in Python, and remote is an option

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#65

I really want to move to NYC. As a full stack developer in SF I only get interest from companies in the Bay Area. All my NYC applications get no response even if it's the same resume with locations removed. Am I missing something? Can someone who has mde a similar move cue me in? I have 4 years of full stack experience. Do people tailor their resume for NYC companies?

As someone who has been on both sides of the table (an employee living outside of NYC and looking to move and a hiring manager in NYC who has received applications from remote candidates), it's way easier to get hired if you live in the area. There are a few reasons for this (smaller companies don't want to risk flying you in and it not working out, longer interview process, recruiters limiting searches to a geograph…

One would think if the talent pool were limited they’d be more responsive to those outside the area

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#66
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

High stress, high pollution, rat race of a lifestyle, you are regulated and taxed on more things you even thought possible, and one of the worst imaginable places to try and raise a family. It has it's pros and cons, but I think we both agree it is certainly better than Silicon Valley. It's great if you are a young professional figuring out the world, but eventually people want their space and be able to stretch out…

> High stress, high pollution, rat race of a lifestyle, you are regulated and taxed on more things you even thought possible New York has incredibly low pollution compared to other cities of comparable size, especially in the US. As for "regulated and taxed on more things than you even thought possible"... are you sure you're not thinking of California?

No I am thinking about my family and I and our experiences living there.

When I say Pollution, I am not just saying air pollution. I physically felt dirty the minute I stepped out into the street after getting ready for work. I would wash my hair and it would streak of dirt. The subway is absolutely filthy. Bathrooms anywhere but expensive restaurants are filthy. Sidewalks were filthy. Streets are filthy. The water that pools up at the sides of crosswalks was everywhere -- and was filthy. It's the definition of a big dirty city.

As far as taxes and regulation goes, yes California is getting crazy too, but no I am thinking about New York. The contrast was stark, especially when you move anywhere south of NY, which I did land in D.C. for a bit, and even that was better.

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#67
post #28

> On Wall Street, new computer engineers get hired at $120,000, but senior managers can make $400,000 plus the bonuses Wall Street hands out every winter This always bums me out. Why do managers make so much more money than engineers?

A group of 5 engineers, left to their own devices, would probably produce about $100k worth of value. An effective manager can extract two million dollars worth of value out of those same 5 engineers. If you don't believe this, you may have never had a great manager.

And an effective manager given engineers who can't write a for loop will produce $0 worth of value (or worse). I don't find this line of thought convincing.

A better answer is "that's the market clearing price for good managers".

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#68
post #63
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

High stress, high pollution, rat race of a lifestyle, you are regulated and taxed on more things you even thought possible, and one of the worst imaginable places to try and raise a family. It has it's pros and cons, but I think we both agree it is certainly better than Silicon Valley. It's great if you are a young professional figuring out the world, but eventually people want their space and be able to stretch out…

I'm raising my family in NYC, I disagree that it's one of the worst imaginable places to try and raise a family. There are a lot of activities for children, from the parks, to indoor play areas, to the libraries, etc. You can just about anything you need by walking. The public schools have been improving - you can try for one of the elite gifted and talented schools but even if that doesn't work out, there are many m…

Until you try to raise your children somewhere elsewhere, I will take your comment with a huge grain of salt. Compared to where I am now, it just simply doesn't compare. I don't care about the city being my living room. My backyard is mountains, and trees, and fresh air, and creeks and streams, and endless opportunities for my children to go outside, get dirty, and explore.

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#69
post #28

> On Wall Street, new computer engineers get hired at $120,000, but senior managers can make $400,000 plus the bonuses Wall Street hands out every winter This always bums me out. Why do managers make so much more money than engineers?

Engineers aren't the money makers.

Engineers aren't in the room when they decide who is doing the most critical work.

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#70
In my experience the NYC tech scene is far more grounded in reality. Far far less hype, uber for lawn gnomes nonsense and a lot more companies focused on real solutions and, often, with real customers. Silicon Valley has become, well, Silicon Valley while NYC is and feels much more like a true business hub.

Seems to be a lot of B2B stuff that’s driven by the overall diversity of NYC’s economy, which is far more diverse than SF/SV.

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