Finance is a big draw for sure, but financial companies have a really bad reputation as places to work. Every hacker in New York understands that finance pays w

Finance is a big draw for sure, but financial companies have a really bad reputation as places to work. Every hacker in New York understands that finance pays well, but otherwise sucks compares to every other place you might work - hours, dress code, working environment, etc. are all worse. I will agree that people are generally more greedy here than anywhere else on the planet. And there is a certain segment of the city that only respects people with lots of money, certainly to a degree you won't encounter elsewhere. But that doesn't describe everyone in New York. It is true that in some contexts people dress very formally here compared to other cities, but my experience is that the startups in New York have a dress code that is just as informal as startups elsewhere. If you saw anyone wearing a tie in an office, I can pretty much guarantee that it wasn't the office of a startup, even in New York.