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Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

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Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#151

Post by Apocryphon »

longerthoughts wrote: post #138
Cd00d wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a meet up group here in NYC called Tech in Motion, and a few years ago launched an annual awards event. The company that won 'Best Tech Company of the Year' was Casper, and my only thought was 'selling mattresses through the mail is considered technology'?

Perfect example. I guess at some point along the way the familiar tech startup narrative got peoples' minds to associate all startups with tech. Makes me wonder where the line is. What qualifies a company as a tech company? Software/computing services/hardware as a primary revenue source?

Then, are Uber, Lyft, on demand services even tech? Aren't they just fancy logistics/transport/delivery companies?

Is Amazon only tech when it comes down to AWS and Alexa?

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#152

Post by [deleted] »

Cd00d wrote: post #126
longerthoughts wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like it's time to stop calling companies tech companies just because they hire software engineers and leverage some degree of modern technology to provide their product or service. Warby Parker sells glasses and Buzzfeed is a media company - I have a hard time seeing how either of these qualify as tech startups.

There's a meet up group here in NYC called Tech in Motion, and a few years ago launched an annual awards event. The company that won 'Best Tech Company of the Year' was Casper, and my only thought was 'selling mattresses through the mail is considered technology'?

[deleted]

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#153

Post by Apocryphon »

acconrad wrote: post #18

What is Boston doing wrong? In the 80s thanks to the 128 Tech Row, it was on par with Silicon Valley as the top spot, then it lost ground and now NYC is considered #2? We have the highest concentration of collegiate tech talent, the same weather as NYC (obviously worse than SV), lower cost of living than both cities, and there's been a ton of investment in real estate for tech companies in the Seaport District. Too l…

Culturally speaking, why does Boston's nightlife end so early in the evening?

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#154

Post by stevepike »

zintinio5 wrote: post #80
stevepike wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To chime in from the employers perspective, we've found it hard to find full-stack web developers in NYC with more than a years' experience in a dynamic language (we use ruby, but are happy to train people on the specific stack). There's a lot of talent at the recent boot camp grad level and experienced folks in finance. Would love any tips on attracting solid mid-senior talent in NYC.

First, what does your careers page look like? Sometimes the job description is unclear or you might be filtering out qualified people. Second, mid-senior is really tough to hire for, I just experienced it first-hand while hiring for my last employer. Regardless of experience level, you are forced to compete on two fronts: interesting work, or high compensation. Mid-senior devs can afford to be very picky and if somet…

Our careers page is https://www.sevenfifty.com/careers/full_stack, but we really only use it as a link our team members can send personal referrals. Our main pipelines are Hired, Vettery, HN who's hiring post, recruiters, and referrals. Posting on job boards has historically never led to anyone stellar and a disproportionate number of candidates who couldn't pass fizzbuzz.

Recruiters have been a mixed bag. They're very time consuming, but tend to have better access to people who are currently employed and passively looking, which is where most of the best mid-senior people are.

I've done some speaking at meetups and we made a junior hire off of one. I've found the more niche meetups to be more likely to have stronger people, the more general web / rails / ruby ones are dominated by recent boot camp grads looking for their first gig (nothing against those people, we hire them, but we also desire more senior people too).

HN's who's hiring has been great for finding sharp junior people with high potential.

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#155

Post by camgunz »

giantsloth wrote: post #78
cddotdotslash wrote: post #5

The best part about tech in NYC is that it isn't a non-stop, in-your-face bubble the way that it is in SF/SJ. I work in tech but enjoy having friends in fashion, finance, real estate, advertising, etc. The conversations here are much more diverse. Interestingly, that same diversity helps improve the tech sector.

I find statements like this both cringe and problematic. The heavy emphasis on industry defined identity is creepy, extremely impersonal, and backwards. I've been a software developer in advertising, various startups and have friends in fashion and finance. While sure you can get some interesting insights into their industries, for example Gucci's new operating room spread is dope af, or the fact that hedge funds yea…

There are infinite subcultures in NYC. I'm as misanthropic as the next guy so I identify with what you said a little, but honestly no matter what you're into you can find your people here. Probably more than anywhere else in the world, actually.

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#156

Post by adrianparsons »

longerthoughts wrote: post #138
Cd00d wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a meet up group here in NYC called Tech in Motion, and a few years ago launched an annual awards event. The company that won 'Best Tech Company of the Year' was Casper, and my only thought was 'selling mattresses through the mail is considered technology'?

Perfect example. I guess at some point along the way the familiar tech startup narrative got peoples' minds to associate all startups with tech. Makes me wonder where the line is. What qualifies a company as a tech company? Software/computing services/hardware as a primary revenue source?

pg has some thoughts on what a "startup" is [0].

I used Warby Parker as an example because their business model is disruptive, they're high-growth, and they leverage technology. I think the disruption and innovation are really important aspects.

0: http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#157

Post by wuliwong »

whack wrote: post #89
replicatorblog wrote: post #61

"official" FTEs is one way to slice it, but kind of dumb. Seattle is home to two of the five biggest tech companies in the US. Boston has had an IPO every year for the last ten years that exceeds any in NYC history. LA has had the only 11-digit IPO in the last five years, outside of the bay area. It's also capturing the zeitgeist in a way that NYC no longer does (that's subjective, of course, but I'd debate it). Just…

All the criteria you chose seem like bad proxies for the things that really matter. I would count the following as the fundamental metrics that really count. - Average (high-end) programmer salary - Amount of VC funding - Total number of full-time tech workers The 1st and 2nd criteria determine how attractive the city is, for employees and founders respectively. The 3rd criteria determines how much clustering/network…

> On all 3 criteria, NYC is either 1st or 2nd

It's second on all three. First on zero.

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#158

Post by ropans808 »

tashoecraft wrote: post #123
timothycrosley wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You sort of prove the cherry picking argument. Average salary means nothing in a vacuum without cost of living considered. And when it is... Unsurprisingly NYC comes in at the bottom of the list, https://www.codementor.io/blog/best-cities-software-engineer... Seattle is actually #1

I can’t trust any of these comparisions because it’s difficult to compare apartments across cities. Average apartment costs in new york are meaningless. I know of no one paying 3k per month. Usually it’s between 1k-1.5k, which completely changes this graph.

Please tell me where anyone is paying 1k-1.5k for an apartment in NYC. I am paying 2700/mo for 650 sqft, 45 minute commute from midtown, and I haven't seen anything better without a longer commute. Studios in my neighborhood are 1.6k+, and I am not in a happenin' place.

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#159

Post by wuliwong »

tashoecraft wrote: post #123
timothycrosley wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You sort of prove the cherry picking argument. Average salary means nothing in a vacuum without cost of living considered. And when it is... Unsurprisingly NYC comes in at the bottom of the list, https://www.codementor.io/blog/best-cities-software-engineer... Seattle is actually #1

I can’t trust any of these comparisions because it’s difficult to compare apartments across cities. Average apartment costs in new york are meaningless. I know of no one paying 3k per month. Usually it’s between 1k-1.5k, which completely changes this graph.

$1,000/month for an entire apartment? Where in NYC?

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#160

Post by mratzloff »

JOnAgain wrote: post #107
whack wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the criteria you chose seem like bad proxies for the things that really matter. I would count the following as the fundamental metrics that really count. - Average (high-end) programmer salary - Amount of VC funding - Total number of full-time tech workers The 1st and 2nd criteria determine how attractive the city is, for employees and founders respectively. The 3rd criteria determines how much clustering/network…

You get paid more gross in NYC than Seattle, but the take-home is less due to taxes. Cost of living is also approximately double. I did the math last year -- offer was 5% higher in NYC, but the after-tax and living disposable income was 50% higher in Seattle. 2/3rd the gross pay in Austin probably gives a significant "raise" in terms of relative standard of living and maybe 1/4 the money in many parts of Asia would m…

Having lived and worked in both cities, my experience is that salaries in Seattle are higher unless you're in fin-tech. I was quoted consistently better salaries in Seattle.

Salaries in Seattle also work out to be higher given the higher COL in NYC. I owned a mid-sized house with front and back yard in West Seattle; my apartment in Brooklyn is much smaller and more expensive.

Groceries can be up to 2.5x as expensive at some places unless you travel out of your way to someplace like Trader Joe's.

Also, no state income tax in Washington.

That said, New York is New York.

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