3 ms·

I want to voice an opinion that I've held in secret, I'm curious if you think that this is completely overboard...(downvotes are appropriate here, people). Whi

by sgslo 9y ago

I want to voice an opinion that I've held in secret, I'm curious if you think that this is completely overboard...(downvotes are appropriate here, people). While a lot of these startups might be useless Tinder clones or Uber for X, there are also startups that quite literally change the world ~for the better~ in objective ways. Don't we have a moral imperative to cater to these companies at the expense of all else? Isn't it better for the long term to ensure they have all the resources available? Yes, some of the startups are scum money grabs, but for every cancer researching, ag developing, energy innovation startup shouldn't we extend them every benefit possible?

opportune 9y ago
How do you propose "picking" these world changing startups? Either you codify some rules that will inevitably be gamed, or you have some sort of discretionary body that will enact their own biases and possibly pick companies out of nepotism/corruption/etc. It's also hard to tell what startups are world changing. Theranos probably seemed like a real life saver to 100s of millions globally. An Uber for home nurses might save that many lives, or it might be yet another scummy Hospice company that does everything it can to steal money from Medicare. Other businesses could have amazing effects that are hard to quantify: Google has certainly saved thousands of lives indirectly by providing easy access to information (due to the speed increases in research this allows as well as allowing people to treat/identify acute symptoms more easily), but how do you measure and predict this? On the other hand, you have "vertical agriculture" companies that talk all about saving the world through a second agricultural revolution. But they're really only economical viable for growing marijuana.
- sgslo 9y ago
  I don't think its a matter of picking some chosen out of a crowd, I mean to say that the Bay Area should focus all policies on being pro-business to attract startups of any type. I specifically mentioned crap startups because I'm sure its the first rebuttal to my suggestion (tax breaks for uber for party cups?!?!)
  - Apocryphon 9y ago
    Why is this the responsibility of the Bay Area? Are there not other tech hubs out there? Are there not other cities willing to attract startups and to become tech hubs? Isn't the promise of tech the ability to do business anywhere on the globe?
oxryly1 9y ago
Do you have any examples?
Mz 9y ago
I'm homeless. I have been for 5.5 years. I am author of the blogs "What helps the homeless" and "San Diego homeless survival guide." I have a bunch of blogs because of the free service BlogSpot. I have an earned income because of an online writing service. I have social contact and an intellectual outlet because of free forums, like Hacker News. I do most of my banking online. I am paying down debt and my earned income is gradually going up. I could really use more traffic for my websites, more customers for my resume editing service and access to decent basic housing that doesn't cost an insane amount. If I could find a simple 2 bedroom place for about $400/month, I could get off the street in the very near future. I can't seem to find that. I am in the Central Valley, not SF and I am willing to potentially move to another state, though not just ANY state. I am still finding it incredibly hard to locate a potential viable housing solution for me. While I agree that some things add more value to the world than others, there aren't really any clear cut boundaries. Some of the people on the street are, for example, cancer survivors who are broke in part because they got treatment that saved their life (so far) but it cost a helluva lot. We really need a few more basic things solved, like universal access to basic healthcare. More cancer solutions can potentially just put more people on the street. It doesn't necessarily fix this problem. Homelessness isn't a simple problem space to solve. There is no one thing that causes it. Some things that would help enormously: More affordable housing, which has been in short supply for decades and getting worse. More middle class employment options. These seem to be going the way of the dinosaur. Single payer health care system to provide universal coverage.
- ameister14 9y ago
  Why are you unwilling to move to certain states? I know that in kentucky, for example, you could find a 2 bedroom for 400 a month fairly easily- I know that because I lived there.
  - Mz 9y ago
    I have serious health problems that are significantly impacted by things like climate and local vegetation. It is vastly cheaper and more cost effective for me to not be deathly ill. Most homeless people have challenging personal problems of that sort. It is a significant contributing factor to homelessness and it doesn't help when people act like we are just being unreasonable or something.

by sgslo 9y ago

opportune 9y ago

How do you propose "picking" these world changing startups? Either you codify some rules that will inevitably be gamed, or you have some sort of discretionary body that will enact their own biases and possibly pick companies out of nepotism/corruption/etc. It's also hard to tell what startups are world changing. Theranos probably seemed like a real life saver to 100s of millions globally. An Uber for home nurses might save that many lives, or it might be yet another scummy Hospice company that does everything it can to steal money from Medicare. Other businesses could have amazing effects that are hard to quantify: Google has certainly saved thousands of lives indirectly by providing easy access to information (due to the speed increases in research this allows as well as allowing people to treat/identify acute symptoms more easily), but how do you measure and predict this? On the other hand, you have "vertical agriculture" companies that talk all about saving the world through a second agricultural revolution. But they're really only economical viable for growing marijuana.

sgslo 9y ago
I don't think its a matter of picking some chosen out of a crowd, I mean to say that the Bay Area should focus all policies on being pro-business to attract startups of any type. I specifically mentioned crap startups because I'm sure its the first rebuttal to my suggestion (tax breaks for uber for party cups?!?!)
- Apocryphon 9y ago
  Why is this the responsibility of the Bay Area? Are there not other tech hubs out there? Are there not other cities willing to attract startups and to become tech hubs? Isn't the promise of tech the ability to do business anywhere on the globe?

oxryly1 9y ago

Do you have any examples?

Mz 9y ago

I'm homeless. I have been for 5.5 years. I am author of the blogs "What helps the homeless" and "San Diego homeless survival guide." I have a bunch of blogs because of the free service BlogSpot. I have an earned income because of an online writing service. I have social contact and an intellectual outlet because of free forums, like Hacker News. I do most of my banking online. I am paying down debt and my earned income is gradually going up. I could really use more traffic for my websites, more customers for my resume editing service and access to decent basic housing that doesn't cost an insane amount. If I could find a simple 2 bedroom place for about $400/month, I could get off the street in the very near future. I can't seem to find that. I am in the Central Valley, not SF and I am willing to potentially move to another state, though not just ANY state. I am still finding it incredibly hard to locate a potential viable housing solution for me. While I agree that some things add more value to the world than others, there aren't really any clear cut boundaries. Some of the people on the street are, for example, cancer survivors who are broke in part because they got treatment that saved their life (so far) but it cost a helluva lot. We really need a few more basic things solved, like universal access to basic healthcare. More cancer solutions can potentially just put more people on the street. It doesn't necessarily fix this problem. Homelessness isn't a simple problem space to solve. There is no one thing that causes it. Some things that would help enormously: More affordable housing, which has been in short supply for decades and getting worse. More middle class employment options. These seem to be going the way of the dinosaur. Single payer health care system to provide universal coverage.

ameister14 9y ago
Why are you unwilling to move to certain states? I know that in kentucky, for example, you could find a 2 bedroom for 400 a month fairly easily- I know that because I lived there.
- Mz 9y ago
  I have serious health problems that are significantly impacted by things like climate and local vegetation. It is vastly cheaper and more cost effective for me to not be deathly ill. Most homeless people have challenging personal problems of that sort. It is a significant contributing factor to homelessness and it doesn't help when people act like we are just being unreasonable or something.