30 Austin tech CEOs headed to California in search of workers • Hacker News Board

Re: 30 Austin tech CEOs headed to California in search of workers

#41

Post by joe-mccann » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 6:48 PM UTC

joe-mccann wrote: post #32

bretthoerner wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The other downside I found is that there are usually only one or two interesting companies and the rest is enterprise software. I moved from SF to Austin last year and have found this to be true.

I don't necessarily agree with this. I used to work at frog design and am now 100% independent (doing consulting/contract work). There are loads of companies from startups like Gowalla and Whaleshark to more established companies like Facebook and BazaarVoice. On top of that, there are some what I would consider "serious" startups with quality founders and funding, like Spacecraft and Mass Relevance.

good point.

Re: 30 Austin tech CEOs headed to California in search of workers

#42

Post by joe-mccann » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 6:50 PM UTC

joe-mccann wrote: post #35

joe-mccann wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My net income was significantly higher after leaving NYC. Let's put it that way =)

Are you asking me to share my specific income? That's not gonna happen. Let's do some hypotheticals. $140k in NYC (this is a common salary/comp) $120k in Austin (this is a common salary/comp) Nominal dollar amounts, yes, $20k is dollar for dollar, less. But now, factor in your taxes (NY State tax, Kings County, etc.) That $140k is now significantly less. Factor in cost of living being TWICE as much (literally, my ren…

You're welcome, but the reason I explained is the answer is yes AND no. Yes, because gross dollar amount is less but No because take home is much more.

Re: 30 Austin tech CEOs headed to California in search of workers

#43

Post by mahyarm » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 6:56 PM UTC

joe-mccann wrote: post #15

First, Austin is NOTHING like Texas. It is a beacon of progressive hope in an otherwise bass-ackwards state. I moved to Austin from New York City by way of Portland, Oregon so believe me, when I say that there is no way I would live in TEXAS; Austin is anything but that. Also, other reasons Austin may be attractive to potential candidates: 1.) No state income tax. This is huge. If you make $140k a year in SF, you tak…

You can say the same about Las Vegas, or living & working in Vancouver,WA (NOT Vancouver, Canada) and shopping in Portland,OR (no state income tax and no sales tax) or living in Seattle,WA. And employers pay fairly close to SF wages in Seattle. The weather, of course, is constant drizzly rain with glorious summers 3-4 months of the year, and scorching dessert in LV.

And there is Miami, FL. Nice weather, no income tax. I don't know anything about the housing market there, or culture.

You can also work in the UAE/Dubai, with 0 income tax! The laws are a bit oppressive and slavery in all but name fuels all the construction work. Or Singapore, with something around 9/10% total income tax at typical SF engineer wages. If your american, you still have to pay taxes to uncle sam after ~$94k if you work in another country.

Re: 30 Austin tech CEOs headed to California in search of workers

#44

Post by mahyarm » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 6:58 PM UTC

joe-mccann wrote: post #35

joe-mccann wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My net income was significantly higher after leaving NYC. Let's put it that way =)

Are you asking me to share my specific income? That's not gonna happen. Let's do some hypotheticals. $140k in NYC (this is a common salary/comp) $120k in Austin (this is a common salary/comp) Nominal dollar amounts, yes, $20k is dollar for dollar, less. But now, factor in your taxes (NY State tax, Kings County, etc.) That $140k is now significantly less. Factor in cost of living being TWICE as much (literally, my ren…

So what would that 140k NY Salary and 120k Austin Salary be in the Bay Area?

Re: 30 Austin tech CEOs headed to California in search of workers

#45

Post by Jgrubb » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 7:00 PM UTC

joe-mccann wrote: post #15

First, Austin is NOTHING like Texas. It is a beacon of progressive hope in an otherwise bass-ackwards state. I moved to Austin from New York City by way of Portland, Oregon so believe me, when I say that there is no way I would live in TEXAS; Austin is anything but that. Also, other reasons Austin may be attractive to potential candidates: 1.) No state income tax. This is huge. If you make $140k a year in SF, you tak…

I'm a contractor who lives in rural New Jersey. Back in late winter this year, I picked up one little Wordpress gig for a startup down in Austin. It went well. Since April, approximately 95% of the money I've made has come from companies based in Austin TX. I just got pinged yesterday from a contact about a potential long term dev gig that's looking to train the hire into the CTO over the next 2 years.

I'd love to move there because I'm really into the food and the music scene down there, but my Michigander wife is not into the brutal heat. I'm not sure what my point is, except that in my personal experience, Austin is absolutely exploding right now. There are at least a couple incubators down there, ala YC. The culture is really cool. It's pricey compared to Sussex county NJ, but there's also stuff to do there, not like Sussex county NJ.

Cheers.

Re: 30 Austin tech CEOs headed to California in search of workers

#46

Post by rdl » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 7:02 PM UTC

BenSS wrote: post #9

enjalot wrote: post #6

This seems counter-intuitive, I thought the competition for hiring in the valley was already too high. Isn't the benefit of being outside the valley cost of living and human capital?

Exactly what I was going to say! Calif is a terrible place to go and scout out talent, unless they're also trying to raise visibility in the same shot. I'd suggest they go to the east coast instead.

SFBA is a better place if you're willing to offer above market (or find someone who wants to leave the Bay Area), specifically to hire a couple of experienced people who can be the core of a company, or who have specific technical expertise. Basically this is the same pool as startup founders.

My startup is in SFBA. I'd love to be in Seattle or Austin instead (I like guns; taxes are secondary consideration; and I'd love a 5k ft2 house), but from a hiring perspective, it's easier to find people who have already done something successful in the bay area.

Maybe set up a second US office for development in one of those two later, but initially, it's hard to beat SFBA. (I guess I'm in the "boring enterprise software" space, at least more so than Facebook, but less so than SAP).

Recruiting from elsewhere (especially Boston/Cambridge) makes a lot of sense, but people are generally more willing to relo to SF than to either Seattle or Austin, at least from my experience.

Re: 30 Austin tech CEOs headed to California in search of workers

#47

Post by ktsmith » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 7:06 PM UTC

joe-mccann wrote: post #32

bretthoerner wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The other downside I found is that there are usually only one or two interesting companies and the rest is enterprise software. I moved from SF to Austin last year and have found this to be true.

I don't necessarily agree with this. I used to work at frog design and am now 100% independent (doing consulting/contract work). There are loads of companies from startups like Gowalla and Whaleshark to more established companies like Facebook and BazaarVoice. On top of that, there are some what I would consider "serious" startups with quality founders and funding, like Spacecraft and Mass Relevance.

I was under the impression that the Facebook presence in Austin was a sales office. Do they have engineering there now?

Re: 30 Austin tech CEOs headed to California in search of workers

#48

Post by gojomo » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 7:14 PM UTC

pagekalisedown wrote: post #3

How do they plan on convincing the average liberal democrat Californian to move to a conservative stronghold like Texas?

You know what makes a state seem 'super liberal'? 60% Democrat-leaning. You know what makes a state seem 'super conservative'? 60% Republican-leaning. That's a net swing of just 20%. The other 80% of the people? Similar between regions, or different in dimensions that are not political – as politics is a sideshow, not the main-act, of most peoples' lives.

You will see more Democratic lawn signs, bumper-stickers, and billboards in conservative areas of Texas than you'll see Republican signage in liberal areas of California... conservative politics is strong but does not enforce the same orthodoxy as in the cities of California.

Over the last four decades, Calfornia has been led by Republican governors for more years than Texas has. Houston is the largest city in the world to elect an openly gay mayor.

People, companies, communities, and regions are a lot more interesting, and compatible with each other, than reductionist left-right political averages might lead you to believe.

Re: 30 Austin tech CEOs headed to California in search of workers

#49

Post by gojomo » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 7:17 PM UTC

zbruhnke wrote: post #34

I'm going to have to agree with most others here. I live less than five hours from Austin, travel there for business occasionally and rarely get calls from companies in Austin interested in hiring me or if I know anyone they should hire. On the flip side, I am rarely in the valley (a few times a year at best) and I get calls or emails almost weekly asking either if I am interested in a job or if I might know someone…

I agree, but maybe they're just treating this a warm-up/practice visit, and chance to scout their main competition for the rest of the country. The visits to other non-tech hubs will be the real outreach.

A direct appeal to founders and investors to start more ventures and offices in Texas, for the advantageous business climate, would make more sense.... but such an effort wouldn't be led by CEOs/recruiters from established firms... who probably don't want the competition of more employers.

Re: 30 Austin tech CEOs headed to California in search of workers

#50

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 7:18 PM UTC

joe-mccann wrote: post #42

joe-mccann wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you asking me to share my specific income? That's not gonna happen. Let's do some hypotheticals. $140k in NYC (this is a common salary/comp) $120k in Austin (this is a common salary/comp) Nominal dollar amounts, yes, $20k is dollar for dollar, less. But now, factor in your taxes (NY State tax, Kings County, etc.) That $140k is now significantly less. Factor in cost of living being TWICE as much (literally, my ren…

You're welcome, but the reason I explained is the answer is yes AND no. Yes, because gross dollar amount is less but No because take home is much more.

[deleted]