6 ms·

New Seed-Stage Incubator in Blacksburg, VA

23 points by frederickcook 17y ago

maukdaddy 17y ago
I got my undergrad at VT, and spent time working at the CRC. This is EXCELLENT news for the entire VT community. I wish there had been more of an entrepreneurial spirit/teachings when I was in Blacksburg. Hopefully this will motivate some of the students to create something amazing.
- mscarborough 17y ago
  Agreed. I was in Blacksburg at VT for five years, and there is a huge amount of talent in the engineering school and CS / math departments there. If DayOne is right in the CRC, it's a fertile ground for hiring great candidates. Best of luck to them, I'd love to hear some success stories!
lallysingh 17y ago
I spent 11.5 years at VT, in Blacksburg. Loved it. Only NYC could make me leave. Some notes: (1) It's a young town. It's 25k students, almost all undergrad. 6k nonstudents. If you're single and younger than 30, it's a pretty good spot to be in. (2) It's cheap. My rent in 2008 for a small studio was $320/mon. Friends had roommates and kept their rent below $250/mon. You can go cheaper if you don't mind adding 5 min to your commute. Everything else (food, drinks, etc) was cheap. As a calibration point: $4 Guinness pints. (3) It's out in the country. Really, really out. But, it's also utterly gorgeous and there's plenty of outdoors to enjoy. The Corporate Research Center (CRC) described is also where the VT CS dept is, and it's on the other side of the VT airport from campus. Quick access to the highway and maybe 2 miles from the next town over, which has all the standard chains/amenities: Starbucks, Walmart (24hr), Staples, Panera, etc. It's also a nice little bicycle ride from main st to the CRC.
scott_s 17y ago
Huh. Their office is literally about 200 feet from my desk. On what people said about Blacksburg: yes, it's cheap. For another calibration point, a bottle of PBR is $1.25 at the bars. Yes, it's a beautiful area. For the bad: I have to disagree with lallysingh on "if you're single and younger than 30" it's a good place to be in. Once you've been out of undergrad a few years, you start to realize just how young some of the undergrads are. I'll be 29 in June. I look at most of the undergrads as "kids." In contrast, I spent two summers in the NYC area, and I was amazed at how much easier it was to meet people who were at a similar point in life. College towns are nice, but the farther you are from being a college undergrad, the harder it will be to socialize.
- lallysingh 17y ago
  I left when I was 29. There were enough grad students/vet school students to keep me going until then. Edit: also, Schlitz for $0.86.
  - scott_s 17y ago
    It's up to $1 at The Cellar.

23 points by frederickcook 17y ago

I got my undergrad at VT, and spent time working at the CRC. This is EXCELLENT news for the entire VT community. I wish there had been more of an entrepreneurial spirit/teachings when I was in Blacksburg. Hopefully this will motivate some of the students to create something amazing.

mscarborough 17y ago
Agreed. I was in Blacksburg at VT for five years, and there is a huge amount of talent in the engineering school and CS / math departments there. If DayOne is right in the CRC, it's a fertile ground for hiring great candidates. Best of luck to them, I'd love to hear some success stories!

lallysingh 17y ago

I spent 11.5 years at VT, in Blacksburg. Loved it. Only NYC could make me leave. Some notes: (1) It's a young town. It's 25k students, almost all undergrad. 6k nonstudents. If you're single and younger than 30, it's a pretty good spot to be in. (2) It's cheap. My rent in 2008 for a small studio was $320/mon. Friends had roommates and kept their rent below $250/mon. You can go cheaper if you don't mind adding 5 min to your commute. Everything else (food, drinks, etc) was cheap. As a calibration point: $4 Guinness pints. (3) It's out in the country. Really, really out. But, it's also utterly gorgeous and there's plenty of outdoors to enjoy. The Corporate Research Center (CRC) described is also where the VT CS dept is, and it's on the other side of the VT airport from campus. Quick access to the highway and maybe 2 miles from the next town over, which has all the standard chains/amenities: Starbucks, Walmart (24hr), Staples, Panera, etc. It's also a nice little bicycle ride from main st to the CRC.

scott_s 17y ago

Huh. Their office is literally about 200 feet from my desk. On what people said about Blacksburg: yes, it's cheap. For another calibration point, a bottle of PBR is $1.25 at the bars. Yes, it's a beautiful area. For the bad: I have to disagree with lallysingh on "if you're single and younger than 30" it's a good place to be in. Once you've been out of undergrad a few years, you start to realize just how young some of the undergrads are. I'll be 29 in June. I look at most of the undergrads as "kids." In contrast, I spent two summers in the NYC area, and I was amazed at how much easier it was to meet people who were at a similar point in life. College towns are nice, but the farther you are from being a college undergrad, the harder it will be to socialize.

lallysingh 17y ago
I left when I was 29. There were enough grad students/vet school students to keep me going until then. Edit: also, Schlitz for $0.86.
- scott_s 17y ago
  It's up to $1 at The Cellar.