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Why I Chose New York

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Re: Why I Chose New York

#11

Post by untog »

driverdan wrote: post #7

It's only Bay vs NYC? Why not stay in Austin? Every startup here is hiring. Why not Boston, Boulder, Seattle, or Portland? Not mentioning other cities seems shortsighted. Online startups can exist anywhere. If you're not interested in groupthink considering other cities seems very reasonable. I also don't buy your SF commute argument. There are tons of startups in downtown SF. You don't have to live in the bay area a…

I love Austin, but I think that there's a story to be told about location when it comes to Gowalla vs. Foursquare. Look at FS now- they're partnering with American Express, Bravo, Conde Nast... there is a lot to be said for the connections you can make in a city like New York.

Re: Why I Chose New York

#12

Post by tstegart »

This is great, I left NYC for many of the same reasons the OP cites as wanting to move there. Really, I should write a post on "Why I'm choosing the Midwest"

NYC has so many women. Beautiful women. But if you're looking to have kids, settle down and move away to where your kid has his own lawn to play on, your odds drop close to zero. So many people date in NYC, so few commit for the rest of their lives. I was so naive when I moved there at 26, I thought I would be married within a year. All my friends had gotten married while still in college. NYC just ain't the place.

Lack of a commute? Yes, but add in the time to get everywhere else. That party in Brooklyn? An hour. Finding somewhere, anywhere, where buildings don't dot the horizon and you feel at peace? Try a few hours. Enjoy the subway construction my friend.

I will say that NYC kills when it comes to food. Its the best, unless you're trying to find a nice cheap bratwurst, then NYC sucks it up big time. But the Midwest makes up for it. I have a canoe, a giant deck bigger than my NYC apt with a grill on it and streets that get plowed. Midwest, I think you win.

Re: Why I Chose New York

#13

Post by untog »

jellicle wrote: post #10
__abc wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything I've heard is that it is near impossible to find talent in Silicon Valley. I've heard it's also the same in NYC ... shit, it's the same everywhere.

With a quarter of the young population out of work, nevertheless the idea that it's "impossible to find talent" continues. It's like a new blacksmith coming into town and complaining that there aren't any trained blacksmiths for him to hire, while staring at 50 strong farmboys who are holding up "will work for food" signs. If only there was some way of teaching people new skills... but alas, no such thing exists.

That takes time. We're in an industry that is (relatively) flush with cash right now, so it makes more sense to compete with other companies on salary than to take the time to train new employees. That may not always be the case.

Re: Why I Chose New York

#14

Post by michael_miller »

driverdan wrote: post #7

It's only Bay vs NYC? Why not stay in Austin? Every startup here is hiring. Why not Boston, Boulder, Seattle, or Portland? Not mentioning other cities seems shortsighted. Online startups can exist anywhere. If you're not interested in groupthink considering other cities seems very reasonable. I also don't buy your SF commute argument. There are tons of startups in downtown SF. You don't have to live in the bay area a…

The reason I narrowed down my selection to Bay Area v. NYC was the following:

1. I'm from the NYC area, and have a lot of friends who will be living there. I also have a lot of friends in Silicon Valley. I don't know too many people who are sticking around in Austin. While it wouldn't be the end of the world to live in a place where I didn't know a ton of people, I'd prefer to live in a place where I have a preexisting friend group. Plus, I went to college for four years here; Austin is great, but after 4 years, I need a change of pace.

2. NYC is arguably the 2nd best city for tech(behind Silicon Valley). With Bloomberg's initiative to start a tech-centric campus on Roosevelt island, and the recent influx of big tech companies (Facebook, Google, Twitter, Palantir, etc.), it's becoming a very hot city for tech in a very short period of time.

Re: Why I Chose New York

#15

Post by untog »

tstegart wrote: post #12

This is great, I left NYC for many of the same reasons the OP cites as wanting to move there. Really, I should write a post on "Why I'm choosing the Midwest" NYC has so many women. Beautiful women. But if you're looking to have kids, settle down and move away to where your kid has his own lawn to play on, your odds drop close to zero. So many people date in NYC, so few commit for the rest of their lives. I was so nai…

I think this gets to the point of why these debates are useless when talking on a personal level- everyone is different.

I'm 28, and I still don't want to get married. I have no problem with buildings dotting the horizon (when I want to leave the city, I fly away somewhere far, far away. Or go to Prospect Park). So, I probably wouldn't care too much for the Midwest. Everyone is different.

Re: Why I Chose New York

#16

Post by carguy1983 »

jellicle wrote: post #10
__abc wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything I've heard is that it is near impossible to find talent in Silicon Valley. I've heard it's also the same in NYC ... shit, it's the same everywhere.

With a quarter of the young population out of work, nevertheless the idea that it's "impossible to find talent" continues. It's like a new blacksmith coming into town and complaining that there aren't any trained blacksmiths for him to hire, while staring at 50 strong farmboys who are holding up "will work for food" signs. If only there was some way of teaching people new skills... but alas, no such thing exists.

> With a quarter of the young population out of work

Yeah, well.. those are the untalented ones. Not everyone can do every job. Especially in technology. Sorry.

It's hard to find good auto mechanics, too. And electricians, and true salespeople. And anything that requires skills and talent and practice and learning. This is really just a perennial truism, not anything specific to today.

Re: Why I Chose New York

#17

Post by gruseom »

jellicle wrote: post #10
__abc wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything I've heard is that it is near impossible to find talent in Silicon Valley. I've heard it's also the same in NYC ... shit, it's the same everywhere.

With a quarter of the young population out of work, nevertheless the idea that it's "impossible to find talent" continues. It's like a new blacksmith coming into town and complaining that there aren't any trained blacksmiths for him to hire, while staring at 50 strong farmboys who are holding up "will work for food" signs. If only there was some way of teaching people new skills... but alas, no such thing exists.

If only there was some way of teaching people new skills

It's the other way around. If those farmboys you postulate don't have the initiative and aptitude to take up hacking, they're unlikely to be a great addition to a software team. The last thing you need is someone passively waiting to be told what to do and taught how to do it.

It would be great to be proven wrong about this, but I've seen lots of examples of it being a problem and not one counterexample.

If mainstream culture changes to one in which the idea of doing this work and being excited by it and making things with it becomes widespread, then one might see significant growth in the talent pool. If more creative sparks are flying around, the chance of one of your farmboys catching fire is greater. But that's a longer-term process. To become good at this stuff, people don't need training - they need inspiration.

Re: Why I Chose New York

#18

Post by rudiger »

You can argue that NYC is a better place to meet women than SF, but is it really because there's slightly more women than men in the general population? I think it's due to a variety of other factors:

Different mindset of people in NYC than in SF (compare NYC's finance and fashion industries to SF's technology industry)...

Better logistics in NYC than in SF (in NYC: 24/7 public transport, plenty of taxis, no car culture, and apartments nearby; in SF: BART isn't 24/7, taxis scarcer, many have their own vehicles, and people live farther)...

What else?

Re: Why I Chose New York

#19

Post by bobwebb »

tstegart wrote: post #12

This is great, I left NYC for many of the same reasons the OP cites as wanting to move there. Really, I should write a post on "Why I'm choosing the Midwest" NYC has so many women. Beautiful women. But if you're looking to have kids, settle down and move away to where your kid has his own lawn to play on, your odds drop close to zero. So many people date in NYC, so few commit for the rest of their lives. I was so nai…

Just out of curiosity, which part of the Midwest do you live in?

Re: Why I Chose New York

#20

Post by robbiesh »

I love New York, and it definitely feels like the startup community is growing here. My only thought is that the startups in NYC may be a bit more "big payoff" driven than "creating value" driven. I honestly can't say for sure though because I haven't spent any amount of time in the Valley.

Being totally self-promotional here, but I just made a video about moving to New York for a startup. Please don't take it seriously.

http://blog.kevinroseeffect.com/post/20127362923

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