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Why to Move to a Startup Hub

paulgraham.com

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Re: Why to Move to a Startup Hub

#61

Post by mulcher »

pg wrote: post #31
clem wrote: post #11

So how valuable is it to move to a strange city where you don't know anyone versus staying in the less optimal city where you actually have friends and connections? It's great that Silicon Valley and Boston have this bubbling startup culture, but if you didn't graduate from school there it seems less likely you'd be able to tap into that resource.

That is a good point. Off the top of my head, at 25 you should move, while at 35 connections might be enough to compensate for the difference between, say, Boston and SV.

I dunno.. even in biotech startups tend to cluster around specific areas (and universities).. A lot of state govts want to attract business, but have yet to achieve critical mass.

Without a doubt, you have to be near a university.

Re: Why to Move to a Startup Hub

#63

Post by mulcher »

dudes! why you ask if you have to move to silicon valley?? That is such the wrong question! The reason is because they invest in people that say, hey, you know what, I'm going to put webcams on my head and broadcast it to the world!! I mean, if that works so will any other "conventional" silly idea... just make something that didn't work so well in version 1.0 and make it social or 2.0ize it.

Justin.tv is the youtube of the future.. Name one VC outside of Silicon Valley that would have invested in that? When I first heard about it I thought.. man that'll never work... I was so wrong! It's a webcam, on his head, that simple.

Imagine being a VC and getting this biz plan:

1) put webcam on head and broadbast to world. 2) ??? 3) profit!

I guarantee you that nobody probably knew (even the VC) how the hell they would make money at it..

Re: Why to Move to a Startup Hub

#64

Post by wayt »

All other things being equal, is Silicon Valley the best place in the galaxy to start and build a software or web services business? Hell yes. Will lots of startups that are started and built in Atlanta and Munich and London and Austin nonetheless be successful? Hell yes - but they should demo to investors in Silicon Valley.

Re: Why to Move to a Startup Hub

#65

Post by anamax »

michael_nielsen wrote: post #10

There are many factors to consider in evaluating the value of a move. Depending on the nature of your startup, it may be more or less valuable to make the move to the Valley. Here's a few factors that seem relevant to that evaluation. 1. Access to capital If your company has large upfront capital requirements, then being in a setting with VC's who aren't afraid to take a risk has obvious benefits. However, a lot of w…

> If you're a startup in a place with relatively few startups, you have a real shot at attracting the top programmers locally, because you're the only game in town. In the Bay Area you're competing against Google, Facebook and all the rest.

Are the "top programmers locally" likely to be as good as the "top programmers" in SV? (There is some top talent outside SV, but it's not everywhere and SV has a critical mass in almost every domain.)

What does it say about a biz that can only attract/keep top talent when it's competing against the junior varsity? How will that biz fare against a biz that does attract/keep top talent when competing against top tech companies?

Re: Why to Move to a Startup Hub

#66

Post by twinings »

I won't try to disagree with the advantages mentioned about Silicon Valley. However, I think there are equally important reasons to live in the UK or in Europe: namely, the quality of life, the way the cities are designed, the public transportation, the people's attitudes. I am an American who prefers Europe and I hope to move over there one day. Silicon Valley is a wasteland. Try riding your bike somewhere. Try strolling around the town center (there isn't one.) If you are going to actually get rich, then it may be worth it to live in Silicon Valley. But if you end up being simply middle class, then quality of life should be considered.

I lived in Fremont for a couple of years, and I can't tell you how much I hated it. Urban sprawl. Nothing to do.

Re: Why to Move to a Startup Hub

#67

Post by sumit123_j »

Rite Paul. I agree with you on every aspects. I just have some doubt. I operate in India and run my own startup with two other co-founders. We also tried to pitch to the silicon valley but found a lot of issues and we found it not worth enough. What will say in regards of the same.

Re: Why to Move to a Startup Hub

#68

Post by geebee »

twinings wrote: post #66

I won't try to disagree with the advantages mentioned about Silicon Valley. However, I think there are equally important reasons to live in the UK or in Europe: namely, the quality of life, the way the cities are designed, the public transportation, the people's attitudes. I am an American who prefers Europe and I hope to move over there one day. Silicon Valley is a wasteland. Try riding your bike somewhere. Try stro…

I agree with you that much of silicon valley is depressing. This is actually a really serious problem for valley companies, because employees don't get to know each other as well, and everyone scatters off to various suburbs after work.

My wife worked for a startup in SF next to a cool bar and a cool coffee shop. When you left work, a couple of your friends/coworkers would often be in that bar or coffeeshop. So you'd stop in, and start chatting. Often, you'd chat about work, and come up with new ideas. They might get excited enough to go back into work to hash it out a bit more - at least they'd have something they were charged up about.

At the time, I was working for Sun Micro in Fremont, a spiritually crushing place. On occasion, we'd all agree to get together for drinks at the W nearby. But it took planning, arranging, getting into your car, driving over there... not at all spontaneous. And so we didn't get to know each other as well, and didn't have any fun.

That said - your post is missing one really important thing: San Francisco and Berkeley have a vibe that is very conducive to creativity, and even parts of (admittedly suburban) Palo Alto aren't so bad. This is why I drove a horrendous hour and fifteen minutes to work every day. It's also why I finally got so fed up with the commute that I faced a choice: quit sun, or move to Fremont. I quit.

But hey, would you rather live in SF and be an hour from the valley, or in Munich and be a trans atlantic flight away? One poster called SF a "second rate new york" in a previous thread (obviously not getting it). San Francisco is not a big city like New York, so don't go looking for Manhattan. Look for a small (surprisingly small to some, considering how many comparisons to NY I hear) but very entertaining city with a terrific vibe and a ton of technical and creative people to hang with.

Re: Why to Move to a Startup Hub

#69

Post by twinings »

geebee wrote: post #68
twinings wrote: post #66

I won't try to disagree with the advantages mentioned about Silicon Valley. However, I think there are equally important reasons to live in the UK or in Europe: namely, the quality of life, the way the cities are designed, the public transportation, the people's attitudes. I am an American who prefers Europe and I hope to move over there one day. Silicon Valley is a wasteland. Try riding your bike somewhere. Try stro…

I agree with you that much of silicon valley is depressing. This is actually a really serious problem for valley companies, because employees don't get to know each other as well, and everyone scatters off to various suburbs after work. My wife worked for a startup in SF next to a cool bar and a cool coffee shop. When you left work, a couple of your friends/coworkers would often be in that bar or coffeeshop. So you'd…

>>>Fremont, a spiritually crushing place.

I remember trying to make the more than 1 hour drive from there to SF, and then back again... just to spend a few hours in a the nice city. Yes, I'd rather live in Munich.

This is a huge topic and it affects the entire USA. Our whole country is stupid automobile sprawl. "The greatest mis-allocation of resources in the history of mankind."

Re: Why to Move to a Startup Hub

#70

Post by geebee »

twinings wrote: post #69
geebee wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you that much of silicon valley is depressing. This is actually a really serious problem for valley companies, because employees don't get to know each other as well, and everyone scatters off to various suburbs after work. My wife worked for a startup in SF next to a cool bar and a cool coffee shop. When you left work, a couple of your friends/coworkers would often be in that bar or coffeeshop. So you'd…

>>>Fremont, a spiritually crushing place. I remember trying to make the more than 1 hour drive from there to SF, and then back again... just to spend a few hours in a the nice city. Yes, I'd rather live in Munich. This is a huge topic and it affects the entire USA. Our whole country is stupid automobile sprawl. "The greatest mis-allocation of resources in the history of mankind."

I agree, a lot of the US is pretty awful. I'm not sure that this is specific to the US, though - I think it's specific to places that were largely built after WWII. The outskirts of european cities are generally pretty soulless, too. But since most of the European cities were built before the automobile, they've avoided this truly depressing problem. I really doubt it has all that much to do with Europeans being particularly marvelous people - after all, San Franciscans like to credit themselves with how pretty their city is (and there is some credit due - my dad remembers signing the petition to preserve the trolley cars when he was a kid), but it was too full to build anything else much after the 50s - so I know I didn't have a damn thing to do with it. (Ok, there is the factor that some people value the physical environment so much that they'll shell out 1Mil+ to live in a small 2br house, so some self-selection may be going on here...)

Hang out in the outer suburbs of Paris some time, and you'll see what I mean - not a big improvement over the outskirts of SF or LA (actually, don't - vacation time in the US is precious, and you definitely don't want to waste it on that).

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