What matters in Silicon Valley is how much effect you have on the world.
This seems to be the life outlook of every Product Manager I know.
Cities and Ambition (2008)
21–30 of 59 posts
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#22What message does your city send?
The message from Indianapolis is either "try really hard, so you can move somewhere else" or "take care of your front yard".
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#23PG never fails to stimulate ideas. I'm in New Orleans. Our cities form of status is totally who you know. Money is not as big of adeal. A billionaire has less clout than the owner of a operation that designs Mardi Gras floats or the bartender that is the lead of the Krewe of Elvi. I think that is what you would call "Soul" possibly. After travelling to a bunch of other cities and seeing unfettered capitalism destroy…
It's exactly the "laissez les bon temps rouler" mentality in NOLA that keeps it from becoming a booming tech incubator (for the reasons in the article), but that's not necessarily a bad thing. There's nowhere else like the Crescent city, and I hope it stays that way.
Although you're more likely to overhear discussions about last night's debauchery than the next billion-dollar startup, you'll never be able to relax in Cambridge, Mass. like you will in New Orleans. I think the idea that a high-intensity environment is inherently better than a more laid-back one is exactly what leads to the "work till you burn out" mentality in places like SV.
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#24This is one of my favorite essays from PG and one of my favorite topics of conversation when it comes to friends.
Would love to crowdsource what each city "whispers" to people - to get more info beyond just NYC/SF/LA
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#25What message does your city send?
Detroit, I have no idea. A message of "it gets better?". Most residents right now are either those who were affected by the riots and carry a deep seated fear and hatred of the city, people who grew up in the city during the recession and have basically hit rock bottom multiple times, immigrants who moved to neighboring cities and have started a slight culture there, or idealistic youngsters that think they can chang…
I live in the burbs, but whenever I'm down in Detroit, what I really get is something like "get out more" or "try something new". This could just be my age talking, I'm in my 20s and that's a calling I think people in general get around this time, but I honestly do feel like Detroit encourages me to step out of my comfort zone.
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#26I mostly agree, though the whole Cambridge bit was a bit overdone IMHO. NYC seems to be slowly changing though, finance and money seem to be losing prestige a bit in favor of tech. Ten years ago there was "a" NY Tech Meetup. Now there are many dozens if not hundreds, it certainly feels you could attend one every day. I feel I walk around and see a lot more people these days whom I say to myself "they are definitely i…
As a 16 year New Yorker, I'm sitting in the Fulton Market right now, considering a move to Chicago and wondering exactly this.
Is "a less intense NYC" a bad thing?
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#27What message does your city send?
I used to think the message in Dallas was "get rich". The city had almost no flavor to it and seemed all about the money. Having leaved here for a few years, I think the message is "work together". The economy is amazing and the opportunities here seem to encourage cooperation
Also Dallas resident. I would agree that "work together" is a message here, but would add to it, "work together, play together". Dallas is all about the social life. Not in the way LA is with "A-list" or "who you know", but simply just doing things with friends. All the time.
I'd also say the message to me is "work hard, play hard, and keep a work life balance". People in Dallas get shit done, but they aren't going to work for more than 40-50 hours/week. I'd say another 10-20 hours per week is spent on hobbies, with friends or not, then the rest of ones' free time is social. Whether it be family or friends or both. Perhaps that is why people usually say "people are so nice here".
When people visiting ask me what I do on the weekends here in Dallas, my response is, patio drinking with friends or traveling. Dallas, being centrally located and having two major airports, is a great place to be able to take off for the weekend for a fairly low price anywhere in the country. For as much as I'd be paying for rent in NYC, I can pay for a mortgage and travel to a different city almost every weekend. Although I usually average twice a month. And the friends you spend time with while you are in Dallas are very open to traveling with you as well.
I've now traveled to almost every major city in the U.S. in two years time, some cities multiple times, and I think for somebody in their mid-20's to mid-30's, this is a great place to be. During this time in ones career, you can get industry experience in a field and then go start your start up or just move up once you know a thing or two.
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#28I mostly agree, though the whole Cambridge bit was a bit overdone IMHO. NYC seems to be slowly changing though, finance and money seem to be losing prestige a bit in favor of tech. Ten years ago there was "a" NY Tech Meetup. Now there are many dozens if not hundreds, it certainly feels you could attend one every day. I feel I walk around and see a lot more people these days whom I say to myself "they are definitely i…
As a 16 year New Yorker, I'm sitting in the Fulton Market right now, considering a move to Chicago and wondering exactly this. Is "a less intense NYC" a bad thing?
Oh no I didn't mean to imply that in a negative way at all. Its like NY, but way cheaper. My friend bought a nice 2BR condo in a building with a doorman and a pool and balcony on the 30th something floor for 300k. A different friend of mine is spending every other week there for work (we both moved to the same company HQ'ed there), considered buying a crashpad 800 sqft 1BR in "the loop" aka right downtown for a bit over 200k. These are prime locations where you can walk or bike to work. A few stops out on the red line to the north and you can get a lakefront (with a view) 1000sq ft 1BR for Salaries are lower than NYC, but not that much. A dev on hacker news should be able to comfortably afford not only to live on his own but to own a place on a single income.
It still has good parks, museums and restaurants, but they are in my experience far less pretentious, and with a few exceptions (ahem Alinea), much easier to get into. There are clubs, there is art, but its all just a bit more muted.
A lot of people love NY for the extremes and the "OMG only in NYC" stuff but I find Chicago to be a cleaner toned down version that doesn't take itself too seriously like NYC often does.
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#29You might think that if you had enough strength of mind to do great things, you'd be able to transcend your environment. Where you live should make at most a couple percent difference. This is exactly what I thought out of college. "I'm a product engineer! I can work from anywhere. I'm going to move back to my hometown and turn the rust belt economy around with a billion dollar startup!" As it turns out, I didn't hav…
Yep, agree with this 100%. I'm from New Zealand, but live in San Francisco. Went back a few weeks ago for a wedding, and was struck by how I had changed compared to the environment. I don't see how I could live back there in the next ten years (I'm only a few years out of college) without it having a significantly detrimental effect on my career. Simply put, my friends in San Francisco are smarter, harder working and more ambitious than my friends back home. I think a big part of this is that they've also all chosen to live here.
Re: Cities and Ambition (2008)
#30What an interesting essay. I've lived in Atlanta for 12 years and I can't really figure out a message it's trying to send. One of the most up and coming industries here is film, and I know people in that industry and have spent time marinating in it, but it's not the siren call that riches is in NYC. Atlanta seems to still be finding its identity. All the industries are nascent, it always seems just on the cusp of a…
I had a professor some years ago who summed up Atlanta perfectly for me - "[...] it's the biggest small town in America". Having spent the past 15 years in the region I think he hit the nail on the head. I believe the biggest message Atlanta is sending out is one of music - musical arts are alive and kicking in Atlanta in ways that are very different to the other big music cities. I'm really hopeful that the general…
That's really interesting. As a budding guitarist, I've often wondered what are the 'music' cities in the US and around the world.