London and Paris will never become competitive startup hubs for the most simplest and most important reason, the climate! Everybody loves sun and beaches!
Er... what beach do people in Palo Alto go to? Santa Cruz? Pacifica? The beaches in the Bay Area are FREEZING COLD. The beaches near Boston, whilst disgusting, are actually much warmer and beach-like in the summer than the beaches in NorCal ever are.
Ok, so he's technically wrong about the beaches, but he's right about the climate. The fabulous climate (and landscape) is a big draw for the Bay Area. I feel excited every time I fly into SFO.
For the most part though, I suspect that for most non-US-citizen entrepreneurs, the question "Should I move to Silicon Valley?" is a bit like the questions "Should I grow a pair of wings on my back?" or "Should I enlist the Loch Ness Monster as a cofounder?" It might be nice to do it, but given the difficulty of getting a visa as an entrepreneur, it's not really an option.
We've had a bunch who've done it. Heysan, Buxfer, and Auctomatic were all founded entirely by non-US citizens, along with several others that haven't launched yet. If you raise a certain level of investment, you can stay in the US. I don't know the details; it varies depending on where you're from and where you raise the money.
I bet those bits of information would be extremely useful bits of information to post in a YC FAQ.
How can we get to that critical level of support here in Europe if we always have people saying everyone should move to Silicon Valley? I was more concerned with saying something true than saying something that would encourage startups in a particular region. I agree entirely that saying startups will do equally well anywhere would encourage startups in Europe. If Carson in turn agrees that this statement, though enc…
There's only one way to really settle this. MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've been hearing a lot of talk about entrepreneurs moving AWAY from Silicon Valley too due to the overwhelming competition for talent and sky-high cost of living. Not to suggest SV is going away, but I wonder if you'll start seeing some activity in "tier two" cities that have solid infrastructure. I'm thinking Raliegh/RTP for example. Even Google is exporting some of it's operations to make finding talent easier. Again, not refuting the importance of SV, but wondering if there is an opportunity to build elsewhere with similar resources being exported.
I think Ryan and PG have a different idea of what startups are. PG said in response to a question at FOWA that he was talking about startups designed for acquisition by the likes of Google. Acquisition is much easier where there are big established companies to network with. Ryan on the other hand seems to be talking about bootstrapping and building to last, which doesn't depend on the benefits of SV as much.
I certainly did not say that. What I said was that if there was no exit, it wasn't a startup. IPO is also a form of exit. But the conclusion here is also false: you need bold and intelligent investors even more to build a long-lasting startup like Google.
London and Paris will never become competitive startup hubs for the most simplest and most important reason, the climate! Everybody loves sun and beaches!
Er... what beach do people in Palo Alto go to? Santa Cruz? Pacifica? The beaches in the Bay Area are FREEZING COLD. The beaches near Boston, whilst disgusting, are actually much warmer and beach-like in the summer than the beaches in NorCal ever are.
> The beaches in the Bay Area are FREEZING COLD.
Eh, they're quite cold but not unbearable. Trust me, I know -- I've swum from Alcatraz to SF :-)
Er... what beach do people in Palo Alto go to? Santa Cruz? Pacifica? The beaches in the Bay Area are FREEZING COLD. The beaches near Boston, whilst disgusting, are actually much warmer and beach-like in the summer than the beaches in NorCal ever are.
> The beaches in the Bay Area are FREEZING COLD. Eh, they're quite cold but not unbearable. Trust me, I know -- I've swum from Alcatraz to SF :-)
For the most part though, I suspect that for most non-US-citizen entrepreneurs, the question "Should I move to Silicon Valley?" is a bit like the questions "Should I grow a pair of wings on my back?" or "Should I enlist the Loch Ness Monster as a cofounder?" It might be nice to do it, but given the difficulty of getting a visa as an entrepreneur, it's not really an option.
We've had a bunch who've done it. Heysan, Buxfer, and Auctomatic were all founded entirely by non-US citizens, along with several others that haven't launched yet. If you raise a certain level of investment, you can stay in the US. I don't know the details; it varies depending on where you're from and where you raise the money.
I don't know what those YCers done, but I think raising enough capital to get E-2 investor visa would be the surest way now. It used to be possible to go through H1B before, but it became too tight. The actual amount of money you need to raise depends on each case; I've heard a rumor about something like $100K minimum, though it may also depend on the immigration lawyer to handle it. Absolute requirement is to show that you have a prospect to be big and hire lots of US citizens eventually.
Er... what beach do people in Palo Alto go to? Santa Cruz? Pacifica? The beaches in the Bay Area are FREEZING COLD. The beaches near Boston, whilst disgusting, are actually much warmer and beach-like in the summer than the beaches in NorCal ever are.
> The beaches in the Bay Area are FREEZING COLD. Eh, they're quite cold but not unbearable. Trust me, I know -- I've swum from Alcatraz to SF :-)
How can we get to that critical level of support here in Europe if we always have people saying everyone should move to Silicon Valley? I was more concerned with saying something true than saying something that would encourage startups in a particular region. I agree entirely that saying startups will do equally well anywhere would encourage startups in Europe. If Carson in turn agrees that this statement, though enc…
Yes, I think his response can be summarized as, "It's not true because I don't want it to be true."