Why we moved our startup from San Francisco to Berkeley • Hacker News Board

Re: Why we moved our startup from San Francisco to Berkeley

#11

Post by calbear81 » Tue, Sep 17, 2013, 6:22 AM UTC

Apocryphon wrote: post #10

calbear81 wrote: post #3

I'm really hoping for more of this all around the Bay especially to places with lower costs of living while still being very accessible to The City. Our office is based in Mountain View but lately a lot of coworkers have been going to Santa Cruz on weekends to play beach volleyball, surf, and kick back. Looking at Craigslist, I'm seeing a ton of office space centrally located in downtown Santa Cruz for around $1-$2 a…

HWY 17 is really brutal for commuting.

Yeah, I guess it might be possible if you're a small company and everyone is willing to live close by but if you need to attract talent, that commute would be an obstacle.

Re: Why we moved our startup from San Francisco to Berkeley

#12

Post by selectstar » Tue, Sep 17, 2013, 7:34 AM UTC

klipt wrote: post #9

...and now Berkeley rents will start rising to match San Francisco rents. Plus if you want to live in the Downtown area, you'll be competing with students who want to be right next to campus. Since the spending power of a software engineer far outweighs that of a student, the students are going to get royally screwed on this.

Some students.

Those provided for by family will see their parents/grandparents get screwed, and some of those parents may well be part of the software community...

Re: Why we moved our startup from San Francisco to Berkeley

#13

Post by ngoldbaum » Tue, Sep 17, 2013, 7:49 AM UTC

calbear81 wrote: post #3

I'm really hoping for more of this all around the Bay especially to places with lower costs of living while still being very accessible to The City. Our office is based in Mountain View but lately a lot of coworkers have been going to Santa Cruz on weekends to play beach volleyball, surf, and kick back. Looking at Craigslist, I'm seeing a ton of office space centrally located in downtown Santa Cruz for around $1-$2 a…

Don't come here, rents are expensive enough as it is.

Re: Why we moved our startup from San Francisco to Berkeley

#14

Post by verisimilidude » Tue, Sep 17, 2013, 7:51 AM UTC

The social scene in Downtown Berkeley is strong for nerds. I was a big fan of the twice-a-week board game meets, where I met some brilliant people. The science fiction writing circle was also a favorite. Point being, there are a lot of surprising opportunities to spread out and network in Berkeley.

(I'm sure the same is true in SF, of course.)

Re: Why we moved our startup from San Francisco to Berkeley

#15

Post by klipt » Tue, Sep 17, 2013, 8:29 AM UTC

selectstar wrote: post #12

klipt wrote: post #9

...and now Berkeley rents will start rising to match San Francisco rents. Plus if you want to live in the Downtown area, you'll be competing with students who want to be right next to campus. Since the spending power of a software engineer far outweighs that of a student, the students are going to get royally screwed on this.

Some students. Those provided for by family will see their parents/grandparents get screwed, and some of those parents may well be part of the software community...

True, I was thinking from the perspective of a grad student. I got a nasty shock when my "original tenant" housemate moved out and my rent jumped up 20%. (Berkeley rent control only applies while at least one original tenant remains, but I had no idea I was benefiting so much from rent control up to then.)

20% may not sound like a lot, but I'm pretty sure grad student stipends haven't gone up more than a few % over the same time. I wonder how much rent around a university can rise before the situation becomes unsustainable (the university either needs to provide subsidized housing, or it'll lose prestige as good students switch to universities that aren't surrounded by housing bubbles.)

Re: Why we moved our startup from San Francisco to Berkeley

#16

Post by jessedhillon » Tue, Sep 17, 2013, 8:36 AM UTC

verisimilidude wrote: post #14

The social scene in Downtown Berkeley is strong for nerds. I was a big fan of the twice-a-week board game meets, where I met some brilliant people. The science fiction writing circle was also a favorite. Point being, there are a lot of surprising opportunities to spread out and network in Berkeley. (I'm sure the same is true in SF, of course.)

Can you tell me more about this scifi writing circle?

Re: Why we moved our startup from San Francisco to Berkeley

#17

Post by rms » Tue, Sep 17, 2013, 10:08 AM UTC

I've lived in Berkeley for three years and love the lifestyle and the weather. I pine for the city sometimes but recognize that I don't want to lose what I have here. And this place just opened around the corner. http://www.yelp.com/biz/rangoon-super-stars-berkeley

Berkeley has not coalesced as a software startup hub because city zoning policies discriminate against software companies. Large swaths of real estate are reserved for food production companies and some biotech space. Definitely start your food companies here, and there are small built out lab spaces available here if you're doing biochemistry.

Eventually zoning policy will change and then Berkeley can more firmly integrate itself into the greater Silicon Valley.

Re: Why we moved our startup from San Francisco to Berkeley

#18

Post by rms » Tue, Sep 17, 2013, 10:10 AM UTC

klipt wrote: post #9

...and now Berkeley rents will start rising to match San Francisco rents. Plus if you want to live in the Downtown area, you'll be competing with students who want to be right next to campus. Since the spending power of a software engineer far outweighs that of a student, the students are going to get royally screwed on this.

>...and now Berkeley rents will start rising to match San Francisco rents.

Downtown Berkeley is already pretty close to San Francisco rents. I recommend getting out of the zone where you are competing with Cal students. Near Ashby BART to be closer to nightlife and Oakland/San Francisco, or near North Berkeley BART for a safer, quieter existence.

Re: Why we moved our startup from San Francisco to Berkeley

#19

Post by throwaway573829 » Tue, Sep 17, 2013, 10:15 AM UTC

klipt wrote: post #15

selectstar wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some students. Those provided for by family will see their parents/grandparents get screwed, and some of those parents may well be part of the software community...

True, I was thinking from the perspective of a grad student. I got a nasty shock when my "original tenant" housemate moved out and my rent jumped up 20%. (Berkeley rent control only applies while at least one original tenant remains, but I had no idea I was benefiting so much from rent control up to then.) 20% may not sound like a lot, but I'm pretty sure grad student stipends haven't gone up more than a few % over t…

> I got a nasty shock when my "original tenant" housemate moved out and my rent jumped up 20%.

Thanks for posting this. I have a nice sunny one bedroom apartment for $1000/month a few blocks away from UC campus, which I'm only getting for that price because I pretended to move in with my friend, when in actuality he was moving out of the building after living there for around 4 years. So our names are both on the lease, but only I live there [1]. The prices in the building have gone up over 30% in the past few years - the units now rent for $1350+, which is still pretty cheap for the city.

Anyway, my friend was thinking of moving out on paper (i.e., getting his name off of the lease), but now I'll have to convince him not to do that. I doubt I'd be able to afford an extra $350 a month in rent on my stipend... I think I'll have no choice but to stay here for at least my entire grad school program to milk the rent control as long as possible, because rent really seems to be exploding in Berkeley. (Not to the extent that it is in SF, of course.)

[1] Throwaway account because I'm not sure whether this is legal. It's not as if the lease says "All tenants listed must be present in the unit for at least X hours per month", so in theory it doesn't seem like it should be illegal, but it seems a bit...sketchy.

Re: Why we moved our startup from San Francisco to Berkeley

#20

Post by vidarh » Tue, Sep 17, 2013, 10:48 AM UTC

calbear81 wrote: post #11

Apocryphon wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HWY 17 is really brutal for commuting.

Yeah, I guess it might be possible if you're a small company and everyone is willing to live close by but if you need to attract talent, that commute would be an obstacle.

A long time ago, but I used to work for a European subsidiary of a company headquartered in Santa Cruz back in '99, and when we went over to visit we could not go a day without hearing almost the whole team bitching about Hwy 17...

Apart from people like the CTO who had a fantastic place nestled deep in a small valley in between the nearby redwoods, or the CEO who had a huge house in Santa Cruz and had his sailing boat in the harbour.