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Stripe to move to South San Francisco

sfchronicle.com

261–270 of 441 posts

Re: Stripe to move to South San Francisco

#261
post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stripe has offices in lots of places. But they also have their existing employees in San Francisco. Fucking off to another city is functionally equivalent to laying off half the company.

Boeing moved, many companies based in NYC moved out of the city in the 80s, 90s. It’s not extremely hard, but it is disruptive. When the exodus happens it’ll start as a trickle and by the time people take notice half the cos will have reduced occupancy. After certain stage it’s more about managing growth than about R&D, so you can find most of the talent you need in alternate markets.

Boeing moved their Corporate HQ, specifically the executive team. Their BU headquarters remained in the same locations.

Re: Stripe to move to South San Francisco

#262
post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Good weather The weather in San Francisco is overrated, it's always cold and windy and there are never any seasons.

Except its going to be 84 and sunny today. Summers are brutal but the rest of the year is pretty nice.

You've reinforced the commenter's point that there are no seasons.

Re: Stripe to move to South San Francisco

#263
post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When people say “homeless are everywhere” regarding SF, they’re probably referring to the extremely troubled people who are conspicuously doing drugs or screaming incoherently on the streets. I don’t think those people would suddenly be fine if only the SF apartments were $500 a month instead of $3000. Of course, there are a lot more homeless people in SF than the very conspicuously unwell people I mentioned. There a…

I'm not from US and I'm not very informed about the homeless problem. But I wonder why homeless people don't move to another city. If I'd be in their situation (living in a city where I can not afford to rent a house and live a normal life) I'd go to another city where with a regular job I can afford a normal life and just build my life there. Sorry if it's a stupid question.

> But I wonder why homeless people don't move to another city.

Because there are few cities in the country that are as accommodating to the homeless as SF. And I'm not talking about weather, I'm talking about services, aid, lack of police harassment, etc.

If you're homeless it's certainly the best place in the country to live.

Re: Stripe to move to South San Francisco

#264
post #149

I am not in the bay area, in fact I've never even been to the West Coast. So I am going to ask what may seem like a stupid question to some of you. I mean this in as polite a way as possible, but why wouldn't established companies like Stripe just fuck off to another city entirely? It's a successful company with a great product - that I'm sure many people would like to work for. They could surely lure talent from the…

So many reasons: - That effectively means those employees tied to the old location have to quit or be let go. Stripe isn't a public company, so that causes major issues for those with options who suddenly need to exercise into an expensive illiquid holding. For those w/o vested options in a company as successful as Stripe, you're leaving a lot of money on the table. What are the odds you find another Stripe with opti…

You're assuming that people actually own homes in the bay area.

Good one.

Re: Stripe to move to South San Francisco

#265
post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stripe has offices in lots of places. But they also have their existing employees in San Francisco. Fucking off to another city is functionally equivalent to laying off half the company.

Boeing moved, many companies based in NYC moved out of the city in the 80s, 90s. It’s not extremely hard, but it is disruptive. When the exodus happens it’ll start as a trickle and by the time people take notice half the cos will have reduced occupancy. After certain stage it’s more about managing growth than about R&D, so you can find most of the talent you need in alternate markets.

> many companies based in NYC moved out of the city in the 80s, 90s.

This is the story of most American cities in the 80s and 90s, thankfully it has had some reversal this century, and I'm not sure it should be seen as a template or justification for present or future actions.

Re: Stripe to move to South San Francisco

#266
post #149

I am not in the bay area, in fact I've never even been to the West Coast. So I am going to ask what may seem like a stupid question to some of you. I mean this in as polite a way as possible, but why wouldn't established companies like Stripe just fuck off to another city entirely? It's a successful company with a great product - that I'm sure many people would like to work for. They could surely lure talent from the…

1. San Francisco is really nice. It's 87 degrees today at the end of October. There is good food, decent public transportation, culture, ocean, forests, etc. It doesn't snow here or get blistering hot, so productivity is very steady year round. 2. Because San Francisco is very nice (perhaps) and we have good schools around here. A lot of hires come from UCB, Stanford, UCLA, USC, and other UCs. Those account for sever…

SF has always been expensive. When I moved here, my grandfather who was an actuary for an insurance company (i.e. walking financial database) told me that back in the 1930s, they had to pay 2-3x salary for people based there due to the high cost of living. If you read old issues of the SF Chronicle, you'll find the same story repeated across generations.

The only time SF was every really cheap was during the 70s into the late 80s, which was due to a combination of white flight, the Loma Prieta earthquake, and the AIDS plague depopulating the city. Apart from that anomaly, it has been super pricey ever since the Gold Rush.

Re: Stripe to move to South San Francisco

#267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Good weather The weather in San Francisco is overrated, it's always cold and windy and there are never any seasons.

I'm sorry you're getting blasted for your opinion, especially since it's one I share. I LIKE seasons. I LIKE snow. I LIKE watching leaves fall in the autumn and rebirth in the spring. I LIKE sweaterweather falls and, cold winters, and hot summers. San Francisco's climate has "mild," going for it. It seems to be permanently pants and tee shirt weather (but don't forget your jacket). The summers (sept/oct) are nice, bu…

And don’t forget face mask weather when the clouds of smoke engulf the city from yearly CA wildfires.

Re: Stripe to move to South San Francisco

#268
post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are still lying $500k, what’s the point of that move ? Also, network effect doesn’t change. I will never move out of SV/SF as I know I can walk down the street and get another $500k job

> If you are still lying $500k, what’s the point of that move ? I think you mistyped here. The point of the move is that $500k in San Francisco vs $500k in any other city in the US (except New York) result in substantially different qualities of life. $500k a year income in Miami can get you a mortgage on a 3 bedroom house and a boat. In SF, you get a mortgage on a 1 bedroom apartment.

SF is expensive, agreed, but it is not so expensive that you need to pull 500k/year to get a mortgage. That income is enough to mortgage a 2.5M home — well above SF’s median home price— with no downpayment

Re: Stripe to move to South San Francisco

#269
post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Boeing moved, many companies based in NYC moved out of the city in the 80s, 90s. It’s not extremely hard, but it is disruptive. When the exodus happens it’ll start as a trickle and by the time people take notice half the cos will have reduced occupancy. After certain stage it’s more about managing growth than about R&D, so you can find most of the talent you need in alternate markets.

> many companies based in NYC moved out of the city in the 80s, 90s. This is the story of most American cities in the 80s and 90s, thankfully it has had some reversal this century, and I'm not sure it should be seen as a template or justification for present or future actions.

While the reasons may be different now, the process of relocating is going to be similar. Some staff will like it, some will resign, some will go with reservations, etc. and, with today’s communications this will be even easier.

Re: Stripe to move to South San Francisco

#270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just my personal perspective, but... I'm still in awe of SV. I simply feel that the time to be there has passed, and I'm late to the party. So where's the party now? It's happening somewhere. Someone is building the next big thing and none of us know yet. The eternal struggle of trying to predict the future. Is Stripe's move a bad move? I guess that the execs are driven by the same fear of missing out what the f…

>So where's the party now? Shenzhen.

If you create a walled ecosystem within a communist country that straight up bans other competing non Chinese products, you might think that this party is in Shenzhen.
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