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The DC Startup Community
- SRSimko 16y agoNice to see the DC community coming together
- robotchampion 16y agoI know it is exciting. I hope to blog about it and would love to meet the we are ny tech people too steve - http://1x57.com http://1x57.com
- bigsassy 16y agoI was aware of a few startups in the area, but I had no idea there were this many. If you work at one of these startups I have a question. Are you guys feeling the talent shortage reported in Silicon Valley and New York, or have you had little trouble hiring the right people?
- mmayernick 16y agoFrom talking to the founders of some of the biggest local startups, most seem to prefer recruiting in the DC region though it remains a challenge to find the right people. I've heard from a few people that hires in DC are much more "loyal" than they are in the valley and there is much less turnover. One of the main advantages DC has is there is a huge supply of engineers and developers working for major defense and government contractors just waiting to be poached by a hot new startup.
- caseysoftware 16y agoCareful of the golden handcuffs though. Like it or not, many of the government contractors are in pretty stable multi-year contracts and are making north of 100-150k. Unless they have their finances in excellent condition, many of them can't afford to join a startup part time. Though almost everyone is looking for side projects and something interesting to do in their spare time, so recruiting someone for 10-20 hrs/week is relatively easy.
- mikebike 16y agoThis might be changing... The Secretary of Defense announced a few months ago that he wants to cut contractors by 10 percent a year for 3 years: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2010/08/the_northern_virginia_technolo.html http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2010/08/th...
- aidenn0 16y agoEven if that does happen, all it means is that you can hire the bottom 30 percent
- cheriot 16y agoYou assume the government (and contractors) are good at spotting talent and understanding its value. 3 morons can look more productive than 1 talented techie to someone that doesn't understand what any of them are doing
- clp16 16y agoI just moved out of the DC area, but it is probably one of the fastest growing areas for startups in the country. There is a whole bunch of technical talent there working for the government and military, but a lot are getting bored with the work. However, I didn't know the community was this organized, and it's good to see them trying to collectively make their names heard.
- skevvis 16y agowe'll have you back :-)
- prestia 16y agoI've lived in the District for years and was oblivious to half of this activity. I really love the new site and hope this will encourage others--like myself--to step out of the garage and into the community.
- RKlophaus 16y agoIf you live in the DC metro area, remember to join the Hacker News Readers Meetup Group! http://www.meetup.com/JoinHNDC/ http://www.meetup.com/JoinHNDC/
- skevvis 16y agoDefinitely do this. Rusty had put together an awesome group.
- tocomment 16y agoSlightly offtopic - Anyone in DC looking for a programming job? It's at a company I used to work at. Email me.
- RDDavies 16y agoSpecifics? I'm a Web Dev, systems? Not so much.
- tocomment 16y agoThat might work. Shoot me an email and I'll fill you in. It's basically creating and maintaining internal applications for a small-medium sized company. Some examples of the type of work are automating product ordering, automating sales lead generation, automating billing, and lots of web development too. It's mostly in Python right now, but they just want a good person and are OK if he/she learns Python on the job.
- bullcity 16y agoThis is great. We created a similar site earlier this year for Durham, NC startups at http://downtowndurhamstartups.com http://downtowndurhamstartups.com I think it's helpful in these areas for startups to see who is around and create a community.
- iamelgringo 16y agoVery cool. Do you guys have an HN meetup or event list? We'd love to get you guys listed on the Google doc of all the HN meetups: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AmQExXr67OcTdDBZZl93MXZwaE4tWlQwTENVMnVQalE&hl=en#gid=0 https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AmQExXr67OcTdDBZZl9...
- pstinnett 16y agoVery cool - I was about to post that I wish this directory existed when I was living in DC. Glad to have something similar now that I'm living in Raleigh!
- robotchampion 16y ago@bullcity - i'm doing a piece on start-ups at http://1x57.com http://1x57.com - would you mind if I contact u about that site? my info is steve [at] 1x57.com
- mindcrime 16y agoYou guys should put a link to http://www.meetup.com/RTP-Hackers-Founders/ http://www.meetup.com/RTP-Hackers-Founders/ on downtowndurhamstartups.com! :-) Also, note that RTP Hackers & Founders has a meeting coming up this Friday in Raleigh.
- thorpus 16y agoWe've been using this FB group as a central point for community discussion. Join if you're interested. - http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_144795392232569&ap=1 http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_144795392232569...
- iamelgringo 16y agoAs an aside. I just update some of the contact info for the Hacker News meetup in DC on the HN Meetups Google Doc: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AmQExXr67OcTdDBZZl93MXZwaE4tWlQwTENVMnVQalE&hl=en#gid=0 https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AmQExXr67OcTdDBZZl9... We have 3 meetup pages, a Facebook page and a Google group listed. Anyone care to consolidate? We're working on setting up a public website for Hackers and Founders Silicon Valley and link to all these meetup groups. If you guys can update your info, that would be awesome. Update: I know it's off topic, but I started a separate discussion for other meetups around the globe here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2004370 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2004370
- RKlophaus 16y agoThe two meetup groups are actually the same. (Changed/simplified the web address a while back.) I updated with contact information and a better description. The Facebook group and Google group still need updating.
- brianbreslin 16y agolove seeing sites like this showcasing local startups. will need to use this as inspiration for south florida.
- jtnt 16y agoThis is an awesome site that I am proud to have helped with. There is also a community-edited wiki that will be an ongoing resource and feeder system for the ProudlyMadeInDC.com site at http://dcstartupwiki.com http://dcstartupwiki.com. Please update this with any relevant info on companies, people, events, resources, etc.
- moge 16y agoDC Week was a big eye opener for me. I thought that DC was mostly govies, it was great to see so many startups. ProudlyMade is awesome. Cannot wait to add a tag to the footer of my site.
- sucuri2 16y agoNice :) We are part DC-based and part CA-based and I will definetely get more involved... thanks,
- JimboOmega 16y agoI can't upvote this enough. I've been really struggling to find something for me in the DC area. I spent a few years at a contractor job... after trying, and failing to launch my own startup, I'm back with another contractor, and it just isn't for me. I've been struggling with the desire to stay with family and my SO in the area, and the apparent need to move to CA if I really want to be part of the startup community. It's a really tough decision I've been trying to avoid making. I've tried looking on "conventional" job boards like Monster and on more niche ones like 37signals, and only got a few hits, none of which worked out. Anything that gets me in touch with more startups, especially ones that are hiring, is gold.
- nlavezzo 16y agoWhat type of development do you do? We're looking for strong systems developers.
- JimboOmega 16y agoPrimarily do rails and ruby development. In working on my failed startup, I wound up doing a lot of stuff on some level, from backend ruby stuff where I did nearly all of the work, to JS on the front end (and lots in between). My SO helped me a lot on the front end with CSS, graphics, layout, and general design... and is in about the same job situation as me.
- thorpus 16y ago@JimboOmega - Of interest? - http://www.clearspring.com/about/careers/senior-ui-javascript-developer http://www.clearspring.com/about/careers/senior-ui-javascrip...
- JimboOmega 16y ago@thorpus - That job shows up as being in New York - is that not a requirement?
- nbd 16y agoGreat site! Thanks for putting it together. It's great to have one common site for all of this information. Something I've been looking for but didn't see either on the site or the wiki was a list of local legal/accounting resources for startups. Can anyone recommend good DC people/firms that are familiar with the tech scene and can help with things like incorporating, trademark/IP issues, etc.?
- skevvis 16y agoworking on it! Pillsbury is a good start, they are awesome. Email us at the main contact address (ambassadors@proudlymadeindc.com) and we'll refer you to some poeple
- kevindication 16y agoAs a DC area coder interested in startups, I thought I would map this to see where the hot spots are. I was not surprised to learn that there were several along the Dulles Toll road, but I didn't know that downtown DC was a favorite. My map: http://bit.ly/fO9gyL http://bit.ly/fO9gyL
- portman 16y agoOut of curiosity, where did you get the addresses? I didn't see them on the site.
- kevindication 16y agoI followed the links to each startup's site. If they didn't provide an address on the site, I checked their whois. If that was private, then I didn't add them to the map. So there are definitely a few that didn't make the cut because they're being extra stealthy.
- skevvis 16y agoHey Kevin! Definitely reach out to us... ambassadors AT proudlymadeindc.com
- tansey 16y agoThis is really great. Where have all these companies been? I've been in DC for almost 3 months now and I was preparing to move to SV because the startup community seemed non-existent and I hate working in a void. If I can find a startup that has a desk to rent so I can focus on my own project, or at least an enjoyable part-time gig, I might stick around.
- thorpus 16y agoWhat do you wanna do? Any of this interest you? - http://www.clearspring.com/about/careers http://www.clearspring.com/about/careers If so, e-mail me - justin@clearspring.com
- jtnt 16y agoThis is precisely one reason why this site was built. To make sure people both inside and outside of the DC area knew of the entrepreneurial activity going on here and to encourage participation in the community. I'd recommend checking any/all of the groups and events listed in the Community Guide: http://proudlymadeindc.com/community-guide/ http://proudlymadeindc.com/community-guide/ You might also want to check out some of the stuff at http://dcstartupwiki.com http://dcstartupwiki.com
- skevvis 16y agoHey man - drop us an email, we've got a place for you! ambassadors AT proudlymadeindc.com
- Kalob 16y agoHow come Goodzer is not on the list? They've been in the news just recently. It's a Reston-based company I believe.
- skevvis 16y agoWe didn't know they were DC based until post launch. They've submitted their information and we'll be adding them soon.