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BankSimple moves to Portland

banksimple.com

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Re: BankSimple moves to Portland

#11

Post by Pakourama »

Portland? WTF? Why? It's a hipster dump. Rains 9 months a year, has 12% perpetual unemployment, plus the USA's largest resident homeless population, which isn't terribly shocking given the awful job market. But, if you can actually get a job the salary will be circa 1994 and yet the property and rent prices are in fantasy land stuck in the 2006 housing bubble. Oh, plus the city has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation. Great place to live if you like being wet, underemployed, and depressed.

Glad I got out of that dump, if you want to have a future you need to be in Boston, NYC, or The Valley.

Re: BankSimple moves to Portland

#14

Post by jvoorhis »

dminor wrote: post #2

Portland seems to be attracting a lot of hackers lately, so it will be interesting to see if the startup scene and investment money follow.

It's already here. Our company (AppFog) was founded in Portland and we just secured our Series B. We have offices in the same building as JanRain and yet another co-working space. In Old Town or the Pearl District, there are startups on every other block.

Interestingly, our biggest challenge right now is recruiting. If you're considering moving to Portland, we could use you.

http://blog.phpfog.com/2011/06/10/we-are-hiring/

Re: BankSimple moves to Portland

#16

Post by ronnier »

dminor wrote: post #7
ronnier wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why, other than being among other hackers. I recently visited there and was really disgusted with the place.

What disgusted you?

The place was filthy and dilapidated. Seeing people covered in tattoos and piercings gets old and tiresome for some reason. It's just not the place for me, but awesome for those who fit in there.

Re: BankSimple moves to Portland

#17

Post by Pakourama »

dminor wrote: post #7
ronnier wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why, other than being among other hackers. I recently visited there and was really disgusted with the place.

What disgusted you?

Probably the rampant unemployment, underemployment, low paying jobs if you can actually get one, and the huge homeless population which is more a reflection on how abysmal the city and local economy is than those unfortunate enough to be homeless themselves. Don't forget the nonstop rain and suicide hotline numbers posted on every bridge or parking garage higher than 20 feet, since nearly everyone is cranked out on antidepressants or else they'd be leaping into the Willamette river with cement shoes on too.

When I lived there and had visitors from out of the area, everyone commented on how depressing the place was. Not a good place to live or raise a family. If you like the Pacific Northwest, go with Seattle, yes the weather is still crap but the city is vibrant, has real jobs with real wages, and you can actually build a career there.

Re: BankSimple moves to Portland

#18

Post by jvoorhis »

darushimo wrote: post #10
ry0ohki wrote: post #6

I really love Portland, and I'm sure it's a great new home for BankSimple, but I am a little shocked that a company would move to a city where literally everyone in the company would have to be relocated. I've seen companies move to SF or NY before because of VC raised, but this is almost the opposite!

" It already has a small, five-person development office in Portland's Pearl District, led by Payne, who moved here last year. " - http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2011/08/p...

I have no idea where they are now, but we were neighbors once: http://blog.phpfog.com/2011/07/25/want-to-be-the-next-php-fo...

Before we were at PIE, our company worked at cafes. I guess you could say we scaled from our home offices to a multi-tenant office to dedicated office space.

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