Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

crainsnewyork.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 209 posts

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

#91

Post by stcredzero »

giantsloth wrote: post #78
cddotdotslash wrote: post #5

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 find statements like this both cringe and problematic. The heavy emphasis on industry defined identity is creepy, extremely impersonal, and backwards. I've been a software developer in advertising, various startups and have friends in fashion and finance. While sure you can get some interesting insights into their industries, for example Gucci's new operating room spread is dope af, or the fact that hedge funds yea…

> > 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 find statements like this both cringe and problematic.

I think the 1st sentence of the 1st comment is amusingly and inadvertently supported by the 2nd.

These are all various shades of yuppie identity non-diverse in thought, culture, or world perspective. They are boring.

You're painting with a pretty broad brush there, yourself.

The diversity of thought and culture in the NYC area is breathtaking. It takes a lot of effort to navigate it at times, but it's definitely there. Hundreds of years worth. It used to be that the North East of the US kinda was the US. Half of the soldiers who went to fight in Europe in WWI were from New York state alone.

A big part of US history of the 20th century has been the demographic, economic, and cultural shift away from the North East to the West and South. As a part of this, it's only natural that a new intelligentsia would arise on the West Coast and pooh-pooh the North East. It's a very common historical pattern. However, when it comes down to it, people living, thinking, and working in close proximity will create cultural value. To denigrate this is to throw out the baby with the bathwater if you are a humanist, or a progressive.

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

#92

Post by oculusthrift »

replicatorblog wrote: post #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…

new yorkers love self fellating like no other

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

#93

Post by lallysingh »

DannyBee wrote: post #34
lallysingh wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That place is New Jersey. Mortgages for a real house with land for less than an apartment rent in SF. I think California is also known for regulation and taxation. Solid public and private school options. Lovely little towns every couple of miles.

"That place is New Jersey."? It has the highest property taxes in the country, high insurance rates, etc. I grew up there, it definitely has it's downsides too. I'd choose it over California, for sure, but New Jersey is definitely not cheap .

Compared to SF Bay or NYC, I think it is. Rest of USA, arguable at best.

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

#94

Post by tomkarlo »

cddotdotslash wrote: post #5

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.

Given the share of SP500 profits that the Google/FB/Apple/Amazon gang currently capture, it's hard to describe it as a "bubble". Maybe "corporate hegemony"... but the situation is SF/SJ at this point is clearly driven by actual cash profits, not speculation, at this point. E.g. Google alone apparently owns the equivalent of 14 Salesforce Towers (the largest building in SF) worth of commercial real estate.

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

#95

Post by timothycrosley »

whack wrote: post #89
replicatorblog wrote: post #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…

All the criteria you chose seem like bad proxies for the things that really matter. I would count the following as the fundamental metrics that really count. - Average (high-end) programmer salary - Amount of VC funding - Total number of full-time tech workers The 1st and 2nd criteria determine how attractive the city is, for employees and founders respectively. The 3rd criteria determines how much clustering/network…

You sort of prove the cherry picking argument. Average salary means nothing in a vacuum without cost of living considered. And when it is... Unsurprisingly NYC comes in at the bottom of the list, https://www.codementor.io/blog/best-cities-software-engineer... Seattle is actually #1

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

#96

Post by mdolon »

randomdata wrote: post #76
mdolon wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having lived in both SOMA and the Mission, I wholeheartedly disagree. The vast majority of people I met at coffee shops, restaurants or bars in the city worked in tech. Living in Manhattan (East Village) and Brooklyn provided a completely different experience. It was a rare to meet people who work in tech. In both circumstances, I haven't been going out of my way to try to meet people in any specific industry.

> Having lived in both SOMA and the Mission, I wholeheartedly disagree. No need to rely on anecdotes though. According to San Francisco’s Controller’s Office, a little over 6% of the population work in the tech industry[1]. That is an unquestionably small minority of the overall population. If the people you have met predominantly worked in tech, it is likely due to a bubble you created yourself. Perhaps, for example…

Sorry, I was simply sharing my own experience and point of view. Please do treat it as such.

You can also say I created my own bubble by choosing to live in SOMA and the Mission (or anywhere downtown SF in general). I'm just sharing my experience of encountering mostly tech employees in those neighborhoods. If you've experienced otherwise, kudos to you! :)

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

#97

Post by jmalicki »

acconrad wrote: post #18

What is Boston doing wrong? In the 80s thanks to the 128 Tech Row, it was on par with Silicon Valley as the top spot, then it lost ground and now NYC is considered #2? We have the highest concentration of collegiate tech talent, the same weather as NYC (obviously worse than SV), lower cost of living than both cities, and there's been a ton of investment in real estate for tech companies in the Seaport District. Too l…

What did Boston do wrong? Enforce non-competes. Non-competes may be "business friendly" for individual businesses, but for health of business as a whole, they just allow entrenched mediocre management to stifle technology by preventing employees who see they could do it better from out-competing them.

The traitorous eight and the many who have done similar things are what made Silicon Valley.

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

#98

Post by dsacco »

giantsloth wrote: post #78
cddotdotslash wrote: post #5

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 find statements like this both cringe and problematic. The heavy emphasis on industry defined identity is creepy, extremely impersonal, and backwards. I've been a software developer in advertising, various startups and have friends in fashion and finance. While sure you can get some interesting insights into their industries, for example Gucci's new operating room spread is dope af, or the fact that hedge funds yea…

Your “genius quants (aka insider trading)” quote is an easy target, but instead I’m going to respond to this:

> That is a typically upper middle class white with a BS/BA in econ/finance/cs/communications who got "really drunk" in college, "loves" IPAs now and does sober February's as a challenge.

These are all various shades of yuppie identity non-diverse in thought, culture, or world perspective. They are boring.

Speaking as someone who is a software engineer in NY, your broad generalization has not been my experience, nor does it apply to me. Moreover, I consider it pretty dismissive to reduce such a wide swath of people to the stereotypical yuppie. According to you, software engineers are homogenous and boring.

If you really can’t find more diversity in the conversations you’re having, I strongly encourage you to seek out more diverse people. To put this politely: the lack of self awareness you’re evidencing in this comment borders on hubris.

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

#99

Post by p-funk »

I'm sorry if this is off topic, but I'm just looking for some advice I guess. I'm currently an electronics engineer in NY and I've been trying to switch to something in software for about a year now because there are essentially no electronics jobs here in my field. I've had a hard time convincing employers how my electronics experience is relevant or how well it would translate to a software role, because, basically, no one knows what electrical engineers actually do, much less how similar it is to software engineering. How do I convince people that I'd be a good hire, despite not having "production" software experience apart from a few embedded projects? I know for certain I can do the work, I just don't know how to prove that to someone doing the hiring.

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

#100

Post by CydeWeys »

randomdata wrote: post #76
mdolon wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having lived in both SOMA and the Mission, I wholeheartedly disagree. The vast majority of people I met at coffee shops, restaurants or bars in the city worked in tech. Living in Manhattan (East Village) and Brooklyn provided a completely different experience. It was a rare to meet people who work in tech. In both circumstances, I haven't been going out of my way to try to meet people in any specific industry.

> Having lived in both SOMA and the Mission, I wholeheartedly disagree. No need to rely on anecdotes though. According to San Francisco’s Controller’s Office, a little over 6% of the population work in the tech industry[1]. That is an unquestionably small minority of the overall population. If the people you have met predominantly worked in tech, it is likely due to a bubble you created yourself. Perhaps, for example…

Now what % of people between the ages of, say 22-30 in SF work in tech? A bit more than 6%. You aren't "creating a bubble" simply by hanging out with people your own age or liking certain foods or cafes. The fact is that in NYC there are plenty of young working professionals who are not in tech, who you will meet without having to go out of your way to alter you own interests.
Post reply on HN