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Pittsburgh Gets a Tech Makeover

nytimes.com

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Re: Pittsburgh Gets a Tech Makeover

#61

Post by thesmallestcat »

javra wrote: post #50

Wow, this article really doesn't even at least mention some of the problems this new boom bring. Maybe ask long time residents of neighborhoods like East Liberty, Bloomfield, or Lawrenceville how happy they are that they got driven out by rising rents due to rich techies? The "revitalization" of Pittsburgh might benefit some, most of them relatively new to the city, but gentrification will hurt lots of its populace w…

What I don't understand is why so many young tech dude(tte)s seem incapable of integrating. Any place that experiences a tech boom will also experience a boom in luxury apartments, $10+ cocktails, tapas bars, on demand laundry and so on. This can't help but to displace the old way of living in an area, even if it does bring jobs.

Is it so terrible to find, vet, and rent a normal apartment, do your own chores, and eat "regular" food (non-organic, probably GMO, the horrors!) from the normal grocery store or the nondescript diner/sandwich shop? And just act like a normal person and not carouse like an idiot having brunch exclusively with your well-heeled friends? I guess it's human nature and has more to do with money than anything else, but so much for software engineer exceptionalism.

Re: Pittsburgh Gets a Tech Makeover

#62

Post by rbsmith »

Hydraulix989 wrote: post #29
theYipster wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've long found a third drawback, which may be linked to the access to capital issue, is Pittsburgh's geographical isolation compared to the Bay Area and other tech hot spots. There's no major international air hub (anymore) and flights even to nearby cities such as NY, DC, and Philly are relatively pricey with limited schedules. There's no meaningful international service either anymore. This is in comparison to SFO…

I totally agree. I wrote to the mayor about this, and we could definitely use more help raising awareness to the city about this very pressing issue (@billpeduto on Twitter if you're also affected)... I've never had an SFO PIT flight without layovers. Also, we ask everyone here to please continue to refrain from using the pejorative "rust-belt" to describe our beloved hometown and emerging tech center. It is a very u…

> I've never had an SFOPIT flight without layovers.

About 10 years ago, I did a round trip a month, each under $300 and all flights non-stop. Then USAirways hub status left, and the pain set in.

Re: Pittsburgh Gets a Tech Makeover

#63

Post by graphitezepp »

z1mm32m4n wrote: post #59
bane wrote: post #48

Pittsburgh is a great town. It looks a bit like it was on the barely winning side of a fist fight, but it has lots going for it: - Two big, well funded, well respected schools cranking out talent. CMU is one of the top schools in the world for CS. - Cheap rent - If you want to buy a house, some really beautiful neighborhoods - SEI - lots of cyber security talent - Great food and activities, it's not hard to find plen…

> Some parts of the city are really beautiful and nice places to be, lots of great parks and so on It's hard to understate this point. Compared with San Francisco, Pittsburgh is much more visibly green. There are trees everywhere, grassy areas abound, and the city itself is nestled in green hills. San Francisco is full of concrete. The Bay Area is still really brown from the recent droughts. There are certainly peopl…

There is a remaining conception of Pittsburgh as a dirty industrial wasteland. Today one good look at the city from a high vantage point on a sunny day kills this conception instantly.

Re: Pittsburgh Gets a Tech Makeover

#64

Post by reneherse »

nugget wrote: post #51
tarr11 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, can you expand on services business being lifestyle vs product being venture? I had never heard of that distinction before and usually just thought of lifestyle businesses as slower growing vs faster.

Sure, here's an example - a small startup which occupies an attractive niche, definite market need, product-market fit, and decent traction. The founder developed a software platform in response to market need, but the market also told her that there were opportunities to sell extensive services. Now that the software platform is done and there is a small services team in place, the founder can choose to sell either:…

Thank you; it's very interesting to hear the details on this. One question:

>she wants to build up the software revenue, but the culture around her (south-eastern city) is so strongly opposed to it, that the execution has been impossible

Do you mean the existing company culture, e.g. employees only having service-oriented skills, or the southeastern city culture, somehow being inhospitable for developing software?

I'm curious because I currently live in a southeastern city (Nashville), am about to move to another (Atlanta), and am in the beginning stages of building a B2B SAAS startup.

Re: Pittsburgh Gets a Tech Makeover

#65

Post by blackguardx »

z1mm32m4n wrote: post #59
bane wrote: post #48

Pittsburgh is a great town. It looks a bit like it was on the barely winning side of a fist fight, but it has lots going for it: - Two big, well funded, well respected schools cranking out talent. CMU is one of the top schools in the world for CS. - Cheap rent - If you want to buy a house, some really beautiful neighborhoods - SEI - lots of cyber security talent - Great food and activities, it's not hard to find plen…

> Some parts of the city are really beautiful and nice places to be, lots of great parks and so on It's hard to understate this point. Compared with San Francisco, Pittsburgh is much more visibly green. There are trees everywhere, grassy areas abound, and the city itself is nestled in green hills. San Francisco is full of concrete. The Bay Area is still really brown from the recent droughts. There are certainly peopl…

The Bay Area turns green and brown every year. It has nothing to do with droughts. In the winter, the grass on the hills is green. In the summer, it is brown or "golden." That color is what the phrase "Golden Hills of California" is referring to.

Re: Pittsburgh Gets a Tech Makeover

#66

Post by Game_Ender »

ta201707 wrote: post #36

Last year I was going through a long and grueling job search after taking time off for family reasons. I was based in the midwest after living around the country over the past decade for my recent three jobs. It was the first time I felt totally untethered and able to look at any US locations for a new job. I work in scientific computing and machine learning, so there were various employment hubs to consider. Knowing…

You are assuming just because it's Pittsburgh pay from companies like Google, Apple, Amazon and Uber will not be competitive. If there is any discount on salary it's on the 10-15% range, not 50%.

Re: Pittsburgh Gets a Tech Makeover

#67

Post by dgacmu »

CydeWeys wrote: post #54
graphitezepp wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Getting around by bus is both inconvenient and expensive, public transit needs more funding here.

How's the bike infrastructure? I get around pretty much everywhere in Manhattan and Brooklyn by bike; I only take public transit a few times per month. Also, I imagine the winters there can be harsh.

It's solid and improving. We're a one car family (two working parents and a young child). We put maybe 2500 miles per year on our car, much of that on longer trips out of the city. Between walking, biking, and public transit, it's good. Having some kind of car available is still more useful than I wish it was, though.

Re: Pittsburgh Gets a Tech Makeover

#68

Post by bane »

nugget wrote: post #51
tarr11 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, can you expand on services business being lifestyle vs product being venture? I had never heard of that distinction before and usually just thought of lifestyle businesses as slower growing vs faster.

Sure, here's an example - a small startup which occupies an attractive niche, definite market need, product-market fit, and decent traction. The founder developed a software platform in response to market need, but the market also told her that there were opportunities to sell extensive services. Now that the software platform is done and there is a small services team in place, the founder can choose to sell either:…

> This is a classic case of where a smaller PE firm will come in and buy it out for a few million, purposefully cut the services revenue, go hog wild selling software, and flip it a few years later for 10-20x what they paid.

Or the classic case where PE buys it, cuts services and all the staff who know anything about the product, go hog wild trying to sell software and realize that that the market isn't there and never was and the services path actually was the only the way to make inroads. The investment craters and everybody loses money.

Re: Pittsburgh Gets a Tech Makeover

#69

Post by nugget »

reneherse wrote: post #64
nugget wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, here's an example - a small startup which occupies an attractive niche, definite market need, product-market fit, and decent traction. The founder developed a software platform in response to market need, but the market also told her that there were opportunities to sell extensive services. Now that the software platform is done and there is a small services team in place, the founder can choose to sell either:…

Thank you; it's very interesting to hear the details on this. One question: >she wants to build up the software revenue, but the culture around her (south-eastern city) is so strongly opposed to it, that the execution has been impossible Do you mean the existing company culture, e.g. employees only having service-oriented skills, or the southeastern city culture, somehow being inhospitable for developing software? I'…

All of the above, including her own subliminal bias which is reinforced by being around a lot of peers who run services businesses.

Re: Pittsburgh Gets a Tech Makeover

#70

Post by BoysenberryPi »

bane wrote: post #48

Pittsburgh is a great town. It looks a bit like it was on the barely winning side of a fist fight, but it has lots going for it: - Two big, well funded, well respected schools cranking out talent. CMU is one of the top schools in the world for CS. - Cheap rent - If you want to buy a house, some really beautiful neighborhoods - SEI - lots of cyber security talent - Great food and activities, it's not hard to find plen…

Given that Pittsburgh has a lot of security talent, do you think it is a good idea for someone out of state to apply for security jobs there?
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