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I've lived there for several years, and in no way do I identify with this post. Not even close. It is good to be optimistic, but I'd hate for people to get thi

I've lived there for several years, and in no way do I identify with this post. Not even close. It is good to be optimistic, but I'd hate for people to get this impression that the streets are paved with gold and make some really poor decisions.

jazzychad 16y ago
Exactly, which is why I wrote this post. There is a lot of cool stuff happening here, and a lot of money floating around, but nothing comes easy.
- michaelochurch 16y ago
  If it makes you feel better, my sense from what I've read is that you're more likely to have success once you get funding. You've been through a lot of pain, and you still believe in yourself and what you're doing. And apparently some very experienced and talented people believe in you too. That says a lot. As for the "Somebodies", it's not all about past success; there is a lot of luck and flair to it. There are, in any human culture, people who are utterly worthless but can make the magic happen. They don't know much technically, but they're great at using the herd mentality and certain exploitable vulnerabilities in weak minds in order to make other people like them, so getting funding and press comes easily to them. When they actually have to build a product and a team and a company, they're screwed, and they tend to flame out catastrophically. Whereas the people who actually work hard and have real capability will have slower paths to success but, when they get there, they'll be able to stay where they are because they've actually earned it.
dxbydt 16y ago
While I respect your opinion, I will say that for someone from the midwest who's never been to SV until yesterday, it does feel like something out of a science fiction movie. Its just so vastly different out here in the midwest. Hell, I can't start a conversation about currying and mapreduce even if I stand in the middle of my university's comp science department and scream. And yet, in SF, the buzz is so palpable it feels outright weird. In the span of a few minutes in which I sipped some coffee, the chap next to me drew up some enterprise routing system for something called postgres. Another bloke gave a demo of some ipad thingy called doctor krono. And a third chap was going on and on about some series A series C thingy. I dare you to find a place in Chicago where all of these things happen. Or even any of these things happen.
- martianpenguin 16y ago
  http://clug.chicago.il.us/ http://clug.chicago.il.us/ http://www.dc312.org/ http://www.dc312.org/ http://www.meetup.com/ChicagoEntrepreneur/ http://www.meetup.com/ChicagoEntrepreneur/ you're not trying hard enough... moving to another location is not going to help you
- lawnchair_larry 16y ago
  > for something called postgres. > And a third chap was going on and on about some series A series C thingy. Ok, this has to be a subtle troll...

jazzychad 16y ago

Exactly, which is why I wrote this post. There is a lot of cool stuff happening here, and a lot of money floating around, but nothing comes easy.

michaelochurch 16y ago
If it makes you feel better, my sense from what I've read is that you're more likely to have success once you get funding. You've been through a lot of pain, and you still believe in yourself and what you're doing. And apparently some very experienced and talented people believe in you too. That says a lot. As for the "Somebodies", it's not all about past success; there is a lot of luck and flair to it. There are, in any human culture, people who are utterly worthless but can make the magic happen. They don't know much technically, but they're great at using the herd mentality and certain exploitable vulnerabilities in weak minds in order to make other people like them, so getting funding and press comes easily to them. When they actually have to build a product and a team and a company, they're screwed, and they tend to flame out catastrophically. Whereas the people who actually work hard and have real capability will have slower paths to success but, when they get there, they'll be able to stay where they are because they've actually earned it.

dxbydt 16y ago

While I respect your opinion, I will say that for someone from the midwest who's never been to SV until yesterday, it does feel like something out of a science fiction movie. Its just so vastly different out here in the midwest. Hell, I can't start a conversation about currying and mapreduce even if I stand in the middle of my university's comp science department and scream. And yet, in SF, the buzz is so palpable it feels outright weird. In the span of a few minutes in which I sipped some coffee, the chap next to me drew up some enterprise routing system for something called postgres. Another bloke gave a demo of some ipad thingy called doctor krono. And a third chap was going on and on about some series A series C thingy. I dare you to find a place in Chicago where all of these things happen. Or even any of these things happen.

martianpenguin 16y ago
http://clug.chicago.il.us/ http://clug.chicago.il.us/ http://www.dc312.org/ http://www.dc312.org/ http://www.meetup.com/ChicagoEntrepreneur/ http://www.meetup.com/ChicagoEntrepreneur/ you're not trying hard enough... moving to another location is not going to help you
lawnchair_larry 16y ago
> for something called postgres. > And a third chap was going on and on about some series A series C thingy. Ok, this has to be a subtle troll...