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

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

#111

Post by mden »

p-funk wrote: post #99

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…

Some companies in NY hire for software engineering without requiring a comp-sci degree. Used to work at Bloomberg and a lot of the people there were hired without a classical programming background but still with some programming experience even if not professional; a lot of physics, biology, and mathematics people for example. Then they put them through a 4 month internal coding course teaching them C++, JS, git, etc. and a lot become surprisingly competent. And then they go to Google once they are all trained up :)

Edit: point being is that there a number of companies that don't look only for traditional hires. Networking (via Meetup for example) helps. Also going through a recruiter or (Recurse if you have the time!) is also helpful.

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

#112

Post by vthallam »

JOnAgain wrote: post #107
whack wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 get paid more gross in NYC than Seattle, but the take-home is less due to taxes. Cost of living is also approximately double. I did the math last year -- offer was 5% higher in NYC, but the after-tax and living disposable income was 50% higher in Seattle. 2/3rd the gross pay in Austin probably gives a significant "raise" in terms of relative standard of living and maybe 1/4 the money in many parts of Asia would m…

I thought while Cost of living in Seattle is relatively lesser than NYC, the house prices are exorbitant. NYC has advantage of very close proximity to NJ, Connecticut where you could probably get a better home than in Seattle-Bellvue-Redmond area.

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

#113

Post by CydeWeys »

JOnAgain wrote: post #107
whack wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 get paid more gross in NYC than Seattle, but the take-home is less due to taxes. Cost of living is also approximately double. I did the math last year -- offer was 5% higher in NYC, but the after-tax and living disposable income was 50% higher in Seattle. 2/3rd the gross pay in Austin probably gives a significant "raise" in terms of relative standard of living and maybe 1/4 the money in many parts of Asia would m…

I'd be curious to see more of those CoL comparisons. How big of a place are you pricing for NYC, and in which neighborhood? Are you factoring in the savings from not needing a car?

You can find CoL calculators out there, and they have their faults, but Seattle is already an expensive city in its own right, and I simply don't see how you possibly got NYC to come out double. That's way out of line with the calculators.

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

#114

Post by wang_li »

chimeracoder wrote: post #38
jimmy1 wrote: 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?

>New York has incredibly low pollution compared to other cities of comparable size, especially in the US.

This doesn't change the impact of pollution on health and quality of life. There may be plenty of reasons to live in NYC, but it having lower pollution than similarly sized cities is not one of them.

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

#115

Post by tootie »

hullo wrote: post #12
jimmy1 wrote: 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 am a tech worker raising my family in Brooklyn and it's quite lovely. Expensive, yes, but lovely. Whether you find it a "rat race" of a lifestyle or not is much more dependent on your internal psychology than the city itself.

It's tough even with a big tech sector salary. I don't know if your kids are in school yet, but the cost of living in a good school district or paying for private school makes things way more complicated.

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

#116

Post by closeparen »

humanrebar wrote: post #102
closeparen wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that saving 10% makes you a homeowner in some places and a roommate in others. If you view your job as temporary pain and plan to relocate or retire before starting “real life,” that makes sense. If you’re trying to build a long-term sustainable and fulfilling life that includes a tech job, not so much. Nominal value in a bank account is useless; you need purchasing power.

Well, the argument is the same with respect to most consumer goods. The new XPS 13 is the same price in Wyoming and San Fransisco. Adjusting the electronics budget of a household for cost of living generally doesn't make sense, which was my actual point.

What kind of household is spending enough on consumer goods for that to matter? I am not exactly thrifty or a Luddite, but electronics, clothes, etc. have never been more than 5% of my spending. I don’t feel comfortable spending on travel at all given the Herculean savings targets needed for an emergency fund or down payment here. Rent is 67% of my outflows, followed by food (my main luxury purchase is not having to cook).

Regardless, good cost of living calculators don’t just take the ratio of housing prices, they use a typical consumer’s basket of goods, some of which may be the same price.

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

#117

Post by vthallam »

p-funk wrote: post #99

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…

Side projects, generic comp sci interviews help, but essentially to get started bootcamps/udacity nano degree might help. Like you can take a mobile app or full stack online course and quickly build a portfolio.

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

#118

Post by caraeisenpress »

CodeSheikh wrote: post #2

I am not surprised to read this and also not sure what makes this article/publisher the assumed authority to christened NYC as #2. After Silicon Valley one might argue that Seattle has better tech than NYC but again NYC always has breadth and depth of diverse markets such finance, fashion, ads, hotel, food, law and education to name a few. Not to mention, easy access to EWR/JFK/LGA airports from European continent ma…

There are many metrics you could use, as you and a couple other commenters have suggested, including the diverse verticals in NYC. In the end we made the claim based on deal volume + total amount, using that as a proxy for company formation and growth, both now and into the future. New York is WAY behind Bay Area but ahead of New England and the Northwest. (The CB Insights/Money Tree data goes by regions.) Here's the report: https://www.cbinsights.com/reports/CB-Insights_MoneyTree-Q4-...

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

#119

Post by tryitnow »

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…

I agree those are good criteria but they tell only half the story. The other commenters metrics are more outcome focused.

It's great if you have a lot of VC funding, but if it's not necessarily leading to attractive outcomes for investors or early employees then that's not going to be sustainable.

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

#120

Post by byproxy »

stcredzero wrote: post #91
giantsloth wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 b…

I've always thought the stereotype was that of the metropolitan North East pooh-pooh-ing the West, e.g. : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MaCXa3ZSH8
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