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Why I Gave Up My Front-Row Seat in Silicon Valley

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Re: Why I Gave Up My Front-Row Seat in Silicon Valley

#11

Post by iguana »

izolate wrote: post #7
entreprenewer wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to the Startup Genome reports, it's considered #2 startup scene (NYC is #3)

But at the end of the day it's still Silicon Valley #1 by a long shot... and then everyone else duking it out for #2. I don't see a reason to believe the status quo is going to change overnight. Culture tends to shift slowly, and culture is one of the best things SV has going for it.

Culture won't pay for rent. Silicon valley is no longer affordable for actual early stage startups. Even if you can somehow figure out rent, you have to compete with the existing tech giants in the area that can easily pay $150k+ for your engineers.

I suspect that this is not sustainable.

Re: Why I Gave Up My Front-Row Seat in Silicon Valley

#12

Post by brianmcdonough »

Silicon Valley is a beautiful area as is Tel Aviv and Singapore, but none of these places is going to change who you are or the decisions you make.

Working long hours is not a function of where you live. It's a choice.

I checked out the website for the company OP mentioned selling. The about page is not filled in with content, leading me to a conclusion that it's not really a fully thought through idea, let alone a company.

There's a moment in everyone's life when they either decide to start telling themselves the truth, i.e., I am not a hockey player (Guy Kawasaki reference from the linked article), or they continue to live a life of lies.

Perhaps moving to a new place will convince someone they need to be honest and make the right choices for themselves, but I suspect a dramatic move is not necessary to begin telling oneself the truth.

Re: Why I Gave Up My Front-Row Seat in Silicon Valley

#14

Post by entreprenewer »

brianmcdonough wrote: post #12

Silicon Valley is a beautiful area as is Tel Aviv and Singapore, but none of these places is going to change who you are or the decisions you make. Working long hours is not a function of where you live. It's a choice. I checked out the website for the company OP mentioned selling. The about page is not filled in with content, leading me to a conclusion that it's not really a fully thought through idea, let alone a c…

The company I sold was indeed fully thought out - it was ranked one of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies in America by INC Magazine in 2011 ;)

It was sold by the buyer who bought it from me (acquired by a supplier), and I have no control over the content anymore, but as far as I can tell the site has been completely replaced at least twice since I sold it.

As far as "living a life of lies," I take offense, and I'm not sure where you come to this conclusion.

For me, living a life of lies meant telling myself I was meant to go to Stanford and run a Silicon Valley Startup.

Since I'm not sure there's any basis to the rest of your critique, I don't know how to respond to it.

Re: Why I Gave Up My Front-Row Seat in Silicon Valley

#15

Post by bri3d »

brianmcdonough wrote: post #12

Silicon Valley is a beautiful area as is Tel Aviv and Singapore, but none of these places is going to change who you are or the decisions you make. Working long hours is not a function of where you live. It's a choice. I checked out the website for the company OP mentioned selling. The about page is not filled in with content, leading me to a conclusion that it's not really a fully thought through idea, let alone a c…

> Working long hours is not a function of where you live. It's a choice.

Our choices are often informed, for better or worse, by those around us.

And, for those for whom compensation is attached directly to how many hours they spend working (when you think about it, this group includes plenty of people on "salary" as well), where you live and the hours you work are directly correlated.

Re: Why I Gave Up My Front-Row Seat in Silicon Valley

#16

Post by jwillgoesfast »

iguana wrote: post #11
izolate wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But at the end of the day it's still Silicon Valley #1 by a long shot... and then everyone else duking it out for #2. I don't see a reason to believe the status quo is going to change overnight. Culture tends to shift slowly, and culture is one of the best things SV has going for it.

Culture won't pay for rent. Silicon valley is no longer affordable for actual early stage startups. Even if you can somehow figure out rent, you have to compete with the existing tech giants in the area that can easily pay $150k+ for your engineers. I suspect that this is not sustainable.

bubble

Re: Why I Gave Up My Front-Row Seat in Silicon Valley

#17

Post by smacktoward »

FD3SA wrote: post #10

I don't normally do this but...the SR-71 was not a fighter jet. It was a strategic reconnaissance aircraft.

Lockheed actually developed a fighter version of it, the YF-12:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_YF-12

It never got beyond the prototype stage, though.

Re: Why I Gave Up My Front-Row Seat in Silicon Valley

#18

Post by curbenthusiasm »

entreprenewer wrote: post #14
brianmcdonough wrote: post #12

Silicon Valley is a beautiful area as is Tel Aviv and Singapore, but none of these places is going to change who you are or the decisions you make. Working long hours is not a function of where you live. It's a choice. I checked out the website for the company OP mentioned selling. The about page is not filled in with content, leading me to a conclusion that it's not really a fully thought through idea, let alone a c…

The company I sold was indeed fully thought out - it was ranked one of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies in America by INC Magazine in 2011 ;) It was sold by the buyer who bought it from me (acquired by a supplier), and I have no control over the content anymore, but as far as I can tell the site has been completely replaced at least twice since I sold it. As far as "living a life of lies," I take offense,…

So... you're the same guy as OP?

Re: Why I Gave Up My Front-Row Seat in Silicon Valley

#19

Post by entreprenewer »

curbenthusiasm wrote: post #18
entreprenewer wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The company I sold was indeed fully thought out - it was ranked one of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies in America by INC Magazine in 2011 ;) It was sold by the buyer who bought it from me (acquired by a supplier), and I have no control over the content anymore, but as far as I can tell the site has been completely replaced at least twice since I sold it. As far as "living a life of lies," I take offense,…

So... you're the same guy as OP?

I'm actually not sure who the OP is... I'm the author of the article. Came here to post it myself and saw that it was already here. (You can see that my username matches the username the article links to on twitter, @entreprenewer)

Re: Why I Gave Up My Front-Row Seat in Silicon Valley

#20

Post by entreprenewer »

cylinder wrote: post #8

How did you like the INSEAD Singapore experience? What did you intend to gain from it (coming from an entrepreneurial background and returning to it once you completed) and did you succeed in doing so?

INSEAD Singapore was a total blast. Really really fun. But in retrospect, I think I enjoyed the French campus more. Maybe it was because I went towards the end, when there wasn't as much school work and I already had built up relationships, but I felt that my quality of life was better in France (ironically). My friends and I lived in a tiny 250 year old town and drove through the forrest to class every day, our class parties were in huge Chateaus in rural France... it was just brilliant.

If you're considering going to INSEAD, I say GO FOR IT - best year of my life thus far - but make sure you spend at least 4 months on each campus, that's the best way to do it.

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