Comments on: Is starting a company in Silicon Valley stupid?

By: TedHoward

TedHoward — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:05:23 +0000

Just remembered a good, related, Paul Graham essay: http://www.paulgraham.com/cities.html

By: TedHoward

TedHoward — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:05:23 +0000

Just remembered a good, related, Paul Graham essay: http://www.paulgraham.com/cities.html

By: TedHoward

TedHoward — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:26:09 +0000

Being from Seattle, whenever I hear a San Francisco proudly declare that they don't own a car, my first thought is always, “Then how do you get out of the city to enjoy all the beautiful nature in the area?!”
It's sunny today. I think Mount Tamalpais might be calling my name.

By: GeekMBA360

GeekMBA360 — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:20:46 +0000

Thanks, Ted. I think your “REI city vs. VC City” characterization is right on!

By: TedHoward

TedHoward — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 17:42:13 +0000

I've moved in the opposite direction, having spent 8 years in Seattle and now nearly 1 year in San Francisco. I have many more thoughts on the differences, having also lived in other cities. Most of the differences I notice relate to the culture of the people rather than the sructure of the economy.
The number of people who want to start a company in the Bay area is unbelievable until you see it. The same is true for the number of tech-related social events. There are definitely plenty of jobs due to the money flowing from LPs to VCs to startups to employees. I believe that Andrew Chen said that you can't find a good engineer in San Francisco, you have to import them. Also, I've never heard anyone argue that Silicon Valley is not full of stripmalls, so I think that's a fair characterization.
I find that the culture of Seattle is more about enjoying the outdoors than building startups. I see it as more of an REI city than a VC city. It's also one of the best-read and highly-educated cities in the country, so the discussions while snowshoeing or kayaking the islands can be quite intense.
I'll bet you miss the sunshine, too.