Ten $50,000 grants for startups who move to St. Louis

Technically, an "earnings" tax and applies to net profits too: http://www.slpl.lib.mo.us/cco/code/data/t0522.htm

I opened this page a while back, just read this post, then refreshed to look for new discussion. Now it's gone.

A) I've never been, but a good friend came from there. He was back and forth on the quality of St. Louis, but he's a damn smart guy. That said, he's not there anymore.

2) Consider that your post was chided in the comments, but it wasn't being downvoted. That's how you know if you're facing disapproval versus loud conversation.

Lastly) The problem of finding no compatriots is not a unique one. I face the same problem where I live, rural Georgia. But it's not a matter of no one here being worth knowing, it's just a matter of getting to know the right people in the appropriate context. That's harder to do sometimes. And it's not a problem easily solved for everyone. Your post did come off as angry, but I'm not going to judge the validity of that anger. Just know that, well, like I said. It's not unique. Many people feel that way, many of whom are right and wrong about their situation. Realize that if you assume the outcome (that no one there is worth knowing) then you may be looking at the wrong problem (how to meet them) and just become jaded that you never see the solution.

http://StartupChile.com is doing something quite similar. Dozens of startups get reimbursed for up to $40k of expenses.

Honestly...

I've lived in St. Louis my whole life (other than collage) and recently went to Startup Weekend St. Louis as well as php and code till dawn meetups. I know only a few people, angel investors from Startup Weekend, community organizers and others who are really trying very hard to get something started here. But it's a very VERY tiny tech community. However, there are angel investors, mentors, startup weekends, and The Founders Institute just came to town so you'll probably get lots of attention. I call these passionate people "Queen Bees" because they are very generous and dedicated to turning St. Louis into a tech center.

However, the problem I see over and over again in St. louis is are the lack of "Worker bees". These are the people that actually build companies and startups and do the work. There are very very few of them. And that is where the flaw of the St. Louis startup scene becomes very apparent. The Queen Bees here like the Arch Angels, Jay Delong, Brian Blanchard, Israel Vickers, & dozens of other community organizers are the warmest people you'll meet. They are amazing. They really want to lead this kingdom towards glory but for this whole "Tech Scene" to work there have to be worker bees and that's exactly what St. Louis is missing. It's like trying to build a Craigslist for Antarctica, or trying to build a Farmers Market in Death Valley Arizona.

So in the event that your startup does grow, good luck finding talent. The mentality here is different. I went to PHP meetups a few times a while ago and the developers there literally didn't give a single "fuck" about any startup ideas, from anyone. They'd gather up every month, talk about stupid shit that "happened this one time..." then at the end ask each other what they should do the next meetup because chit chatting is boring. The idea that they could work on a startup that could change the world is completely over their head. They are oblivious to their own possible greatness.

$50,000 grant for startups is a great deal for people who already live in St. Louis but a terrible deal for people who have a chance to move to the Bay Area. Getting a startup off the ground is hard enough, why make it harder by moving to a place where you have less oportunity and less people to make it happen?

In the end you need to do what's best for YOUR startup and YOUR idea, not what's best for St. Louis. A startup is like a child you are raising, and if you want the best for your child, you pack your bags and move to an area with better schools, less crime, and better collages. Depending on the situation, the best place for your child and most startups is Silicon Valley. People who try to convince themselves otherwise are the type of people who either don't have the balls to move (like me), or are emotionally attached to their city (New Yorkers, Seattleans), or don't have the funds to move. There's lots of stories of people outside the valley making it but I bet you if they moved to the bay area they would have made it farther and faster than in their home town. Silicon valley is not a "place" but a certain type of "people". They are very intelligent, not always educated, bat shit crazy and hell bent on building something great. And Silicon Valley is FULL of them. They will fuel your startup's success faster and better than anyone else can.

So if you're young and able to move, go to the Bay Area, if you're stuck in New York or St. Louis or Seattle because of family or emotional reasons. By all means take advantage of these deals and try to give back to the community so you can help others who are stuck in their home town too. BTW, check out the St. louis "code till dawn" meetup group for really chilled authentic developers.

I myself desperately want to move to San Jose. I need to do it, but I'm an overly emotional Atheist and also cannot have kids. Basically, I will never raise a family of my own so the one I have now is the last biological family I'll ever have and I don't want to let them go. If my parents were to pass away while I was gone out west, I'd never forgive myself. To me there's no afterlife so you have to love those around you as much as you can while they are alive because there's no second chances after that. Emotionally, I think I'm stuck in St. Louis for a while... ;_;

Downtown has Laclede's landing, Busch Stadium, the James Edwards Dome, Scott Trade Center etc. There's other places that I'm forgetting, but that's a draw to down town for nights and weekends if you are into sports, drinking, and live music. I lived downtown while I was there and everyone I knew and worked with lived outside of the city and would drive in for work/events. I was only there for a couple of years over a decade ago so some of it has probably changed but I doubt it. It is probably one of the last places I would consider for a company and it's one of the few places I have no real desire to go back to.