41–50 of 52 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oops, thanks, sorry about attributing to the wrong story, I must have just fluidly slipped into that other one.
It wasn't said by a VC booster though. It was said by one of betabeat's writers.
Surprising, given the amount of time it's taken to get to this point. As a New Yorker myself, I'm not sure what I should think of it. Someone is going to make a campus, be it Cornell or NYU.
Why not Columbia?
Columbia's always been a top-tier research institution - in fact, it has more Nobel laureates than any other university in the world. As far as computer science is concerned, let's not forget that a number of great achievements in tech & computer science (past and present) are the work of people who are or were in some way affiliated with Columbia. I can't find a comprehensive list at the moment - unfortunately the Columbia CS department website doesn't brag about itself enough for that - but it's not too hard to think of examples.
Columbia already has an engineering school (the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences). The school is known for the strength of its graduate and undergraduate programs - its selectivity rate for undergraduate admissions, for what it's worth, is lower than any other school in the country except MIT.
Is there room for improvement? Absolutely - I can think of a number of ways. But the tech scene in New York is young and looking to grow quickly. It makes more sense to me to take advantage of the tremendous resources already here and amp them up, rather than start from scratch.
Unfortunately, for reasons that are more political than they are logical, I'd be surprised if Columbia actually won this contest. But it would be a pleasant surprise, knowing that they made the right decision.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I ask sincerely, what is west-coast culture? (I have lived in New Hampshire all my life.)
Here's my favorite example of how it's not really so different, at least among status-conscious people: I live in California and work with someone who recently moved here from Baltimore. He's kind of an older gen-X guy, and he likes to go to thrift stores, buy old suits for Every few months, a manager will pull him aside and say in a trying-to-be-friendly way, "You know, you really don't have to wear a suit around he…
"Wow they take being laid back VERY SERIOUSLY."
Your anecdote is a perfect illustration of that!
But the thing that makes the SF area great for startups is the proximity (and thus density) of startups and tech in general. While long-distance networking has come a long way, it's still no replacement. If NYC's goal is to build a stronger tech community, I think they're better off building their own East Coast tech culture vs. trying to import a culture from SF.
Disclosure: as a Cornell grad, I'm definitely biased and psyched about it getting more involved in supporting a tech community (a $350M donation didn't hurt either)
Surprising, given the amount of time it's taken to get to this point. As a New Yorker myself, I'm not sure what I should think of it. Someone is going to make a campus, be it Cornell or NYU.
Why not Columbia?
Fun fact: Stanford President Hennessy is the same Hennessy who with Patterson wrote that great computer architecture book: Computer Organization & Design: The Hardware/Software Interface. Oh, he also co-founded MIPS Although as my first job was doing MIPS related stuff I may be biased about usefulness of the book. Amusingly the first featured 5-star review on Amazon is from John Mashey whom older readers may remember…
I have that book!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It wasn't said by a VC booster though. It was said by one of betabeat's writers.
Maybe I'm wrong, my understanding is that betabeat is a NY tech advocacy site, their about page pretty much says that and admits they engage in boosterism. And it kind of follows that NY tech advocacy is pretty much all about the financing angle, hence my seeing their NY tech boosterism as fundamentally NY VC boosterism. Anyway, I found the quote interesting and kind of highlights that there is something of an irreco…
MIT, not exactly a bastion of west coastism, also declined to bid for a campus in New York City. John Hennessy's Ph.D. is from SUNY for heaven's sake. I'm sure many people in California also enjoy "Seinfeld" and the New York Times without feeling like traitors, and nobody can doubt that NYC is sincere in wanting to emulate Silicon Valley's success in high tech.
In any event, a true east coaster from the right sort of family would know how to spell "champing at the bit."
Sad. It would be refreshing to get some west-coast culture to NYC.
I ask sincerely, what is west-coast culture? (I have lived in New Hampshire all my life.)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe I'm wrong, my understanding is that betabeat is a NY tech advocacy site, their about page pretty much says that and admits they engage in boosterism. And it kind of follows that NY tech advocacy is pretty much all about the financing angle, hence my seeing their NY tech boosterism as fundamentally NY VC boosterism. Anyway, I found the quote interesting and kind of highlights that there is something of an irreco…
A little over the top, no? You're quoting one dude. MIT, not exactly a bastion of west coastism, also declined to bid for a campus in New York City. John Hennessy's Ph.D. is from SUNY for heaven's sake. I'm sure many people in California also enjoy "Seinfeld" and the New York Times without feeling like traitors, and nobody can doubt that NYC is sincere in wanting to emulate Silicon Valley's success in high tech. In a…