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Usually the trendiest part of town is also easiest to get to. Also, depending on your business you might want to be where your clients, or potential clients, ar

by pan69 10y ago

Usually the trendiest part of town is also easiest to get to. Also, depending on your business you might want to be where your clients, or potential clients, are. Having at least a quiet and loud space is to me a better compromise than some shitty open plan office, at least I have choice that way.

JoshTriplett 10y ago
> Usually the trendiest part of town is also easiest to get to. Not when it's where everyone is trying to go, and where almost none of your developers can afford to live. I like when companies set up shop in a suburban, inexpensive town, and their employees can afford to live 1-5 minutes from work. If you're a startup, you might desperately need the VC networking and signaling value of Silicon Valley. If you're doing a lot of direct B2B sales to Silicon Valley, you might need to have an office there. Otherwise, and especially if you're a company that can set up shop anywhere sensible, be anywhere else high-tech.
- muninn_ 10y ago
  I agree with this sentiment (and I've made come related comments), but if you can afford to put your business in the "trendy" area you should do so because of the type of people it attracts, and because of the creative environment it fosters. Even if you can't afford to put your business in the trendy area you should still try and locate to a more urban environment. The issue with putting your business in the suburbs is that it attracts the people who are not as willing to take risks, or who aren't wanting to put in 10+ hour days hoping for an IPO (just generalizing here) because they want to take their kids to soccer games. Nothing wrong with that, but a different life stage and a different outlook on work.
  - true_religion 10y ago
    Trendy spots tend to be equidistant from everything else. Placing yourself in one means you can have the greatest # of suburban dwelling developers in your radius. If you locate in a suburb on the east though, you're too far for developers who live in suburbs on the west, and vice versa. Being in the city, means you're equally sucky to get to for anyone you hire and since we already worked in the city before we already know how to handle getting to your place.
    - JoshTriplett 10y ago
      > Being in the city, means you're equally sucky to get to for anyone you hire Exactly. Whereas unless you're so large that you need to hire everyone in a wide area, while simultaneously having no way to motivate people to relocate, then you can provide an optimal commute for far more employees by locating in a suburb. (Or, alternatively, in an urban setting in a city that isn't bursting at the seams whose traffic makes it take an hour to get anywhere.)

by pan69 10y ago

JoshTriplett 10y ago

> Usually the trendiest part of town is also easiest to get to. Not when it's where everyone is trying to go, and where almost none of your developers can afford to live. I like when companies set up shop in a suburban, inexpensive town, and their employees can afford to live 1-5 minutes from work. If you're a startup, you might desperately need the VC networking and signaling value of Silicon Valley. If you're doing a lot of direct B2B sales to Silicon Valley, you might need to have an office there. Otherwise, and especially if you're a company that can set up shop anywhere sensible, be anywhere else high-tech.

muninn_ 10y ago
I agree with this sentiment (and I've made come related comments), but if you can afford to put your business in the "trendy" area you should do so because of the type of people it attracts, and because of the creative environment it fosters. Even if you can't afford to put your business in the trendy area you should still try and locate to a more urban environment. The issue with putting your business in the suburbs is that it attracts the people who are not as willing to take risks, or who aren't wanting to put in 10+ hour days hoping for an IPO (just generalizing here) because they want to take their kids to soccer games. Nothing wrong with that, but a different life stage and a different outlook on work.
- true_religion 10y ago
  Trendy spots tend to be equidistant from everything else. Placing yourself in one means you can have the greatest # of suburban dwelling developers in your radius. If you locate in a suburb on the east though, you're too far for developers who live in suburbs on the west, and vice versa. Being in the city, means you're equally sucky to get to for anyone you hire and since we already worked in the city before we already know how to handle getting to your place.
  - JoshTriplett 10y ago
    > Being in the city, means you're equally sucky to get to for anyone you hire Exactly. Whereas unless you're so large that you need to hire everyone in a wide area, while simultaneously having no way to motivate people to relocate, then you can provide an optimal commute for far more employees by locating in a suburb. (Or, alternatively, in an urban setting in a city that isn't bursting at the seams whose traffic makes it take an hour to get anywhere.)