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It's certainly possible, after all I've managed to do it so far. It's not optimal though, as you are fighting an uphill battle in certain respects. In particul
by morgante 10y ago
It's certainly possible, after all I've managed to do it so far. It's not optimal though, as you are fighting an uphill battle in certain respects.
In particular, outside of SV it's substantially harder to:
1) Break into the top ranks of tech compensation. The companies and roles paying >200k/yr are heavily concentrated in SV.
2) Found a successful startup. The concentration of capital and connections in SV remains unparalleled elsewhere.
I don't think it's really that different from finance. You can have find finance jobs throughout the country and you can even build a successful career in most places. But if you want to succeed at the highest level, you'd be well-advised to move to NYC.
- coryfklein 10y ago> 1) Break into the top ranks of tech compensation. The companies and roles paying >200k/yr are heavily concentrated in SV. > 2) Found a successful startup. The concentration of capital and connections in SV remains unparalleled elsewhere. From my perspective, your definition of a "successful software career" is rather narrow. Where else can you make 6-figures your whole life and be considered a failure?
- morgante 10y agoSuccess is continuous, not binary. Clearly Jerry Yang is very successful, but he's not as successful as Mark Zuckerberg. Like I said, it's perfectly possible to have a nominally successful career in software elsewhere. It's just that if you want to reach even higher levels of success in software, you're encouraged to move to SV.
- softawre 10y agoWould you rather make 200k in Los Gatos or 130k in Indiana? I'll take the 130k.