5 ms·

In Microsoft's Shadow, Seattle's Tech Scene Surges

65 points by frankus 15y ago

barista 15y ago
This is bound to happen. Microsoft is an aging giant though it still has some of the best minds in the industry. One concern I always have hiring from such old guard companies is that the people who have worked there for long, have skills too specific to the company they come from. They need some time adjusting to different technologies and development practices.
- MartinCron 15y ago
  I've seen a handful of companies with employees who couldn't get the idea that practices that are appropriate for Microsoft aren't appropriate for small startups. That said, I would take an ex-Microsoft over ex-Boeing or ex-Washington Mutual anyday.
  - keithnoizu 15y ago
    I'm not entirely sold that the practices that are appropriate for microsoft are even appropriate for microsoft. Some orgs are pretty solid patterns and practices wise and some divisons are like stepping back into the early 90s.
  - jacques_chester 15y ago
    You can't generalise how Microsoft does anything, because each division -- each team, even -- has enormous latitude in how they do their work. SEI boosters and agile fans can both say "Microsoft uses CMMI/Scrum" with a straight face and be correct.
- bgramer 15y ago
  The same is true of any location, not just Seattle.
jamesbritt 15y ago
There are some crazy smart Ruby people there. Makes me a bit envious.
epynonymous 15y ago
my previous company was based in seattle, so i've taken several trips there, in general it's a decent area, but i definitely prefer the bay area. though i can understand for companies and employees of the state, the lack of income tax and talent pool to be quite amazing.
philco 15y ago
We just moved Meeteor.com to Seattle, and it's been an amazing community to be a part of. Strong mix of design + developer talent, and the cost of living (and cost of hiring) is about half of the Bay Area's.... Seed Round Heaven.
nod 15y ago
This article only has a few of the biggest names. The real tech scene is somewhat larger: http://www.seattle20.com/startups.aspx http://www.seattle20.com/startups.aspx And Fremont is one more unmentioned tech neighborhood: Tableau Software, Ubermind, and Groundspeak wave hi from nextdoor to Impinj, Adobe, Google, and others...
- philco 15y ago
  We're in Fremont as well! Let's put a happy hour together next week at 9mm or Revel
earl 15y ago
There's a quantcast alumnus building a mobile analytics company there -- http://www.sewichi.com http://www.sewichi.com . It looks fascinating, and if any of you are looking for a cool young startup, it's probably worth a look. The founder, David, is a stand up guy who really understands the analytics space.
tzs 15y ago
When considering Seattle, also consider heading across Puget Sound. Here are some nice points for putting a company in Kitsap County. 1. Commuting from Seattle is easy, so employees who prefer to live in the city can. (I lived in Seattle for several years while working in Poulsbo, and the ferry ride was a wonderful time each day to catch up on my technical reading--or my science fiction reading. Or go up and get breakfast at the ferry's dining area and eat it and read the newspaper). 2. Low traffic, much more affordable housing, less noise, so employees who prefer those qualities for where they live can get them by living in Kitsap. And Seattle is just a ferry ride away for when you want the things the city offers. Of course it is possible to live in Kitsap and commute to Seattle, but that commute sucks because a lot of people do it. If you want to travel anywhere near morning or evening peak commute hours you can have long waits to get a ferry, and deal with lots of traffic. When you are going the other way, living in Seattle and commuting to Kitsap, it is a breeze even if you are working 8 to 5. I used to arrive at the terminal minutes before the boat was scheduled to leave and have no trouble getting on.
- MartinCron 15y ago
  One of the problems with the new emergent tech scene in South Lake Union is that it's not really workable for on-foot ferry commuters the same way the financial district is. Yes, it's possible to walk from the ferry terminal to SLU, I know someone who does, but it's quite the hike.
  - dmor 15y ago
    but you can take the trolley from Westlake
    - sofal 15y ago
      It takes less time to walk to SLU from Westlake than it does to wait for the next trolley.
  - lawnchair_larry 15y ago
    Who is in South Lake Union besides Amazon? Edit: Ah, missed that in the article. Salesforce and Facebook offices now.
pnathan 15y ago
One thing that I wonder about is the tech scene in Seattle: is it very Microsofty, or is open to things like Ruby, Linux, or Lisp?
- Fizzer 15y ago
  The great thing about developers is that they love to try new things, so even Microsoft's developers recognize that the Microsoft stack is not the best at everything. Most of the people I find who have their heads stuck in the Microsoft stack are non-coders, and those are less common at startups.
- sofal 15y ago
  At Amazon we do our part to turn Microsoft people on to Linux.
- zachrose 15y ago
  The joke at our startup was if we moved to the east side we'd have to switch over to a .NET stack.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- andywood 15y ago
  I've been here 6 years, and my observation has been that the startup culture as a whole leans away from MS, if anything. Startups founded by ex-Microsoft employees do seem to be more likely to use Microsoft tech, but certainly not always. But remember that the wider tech scene here is much more than just Microsoft. Amazon is a big force, and Google has a respectable presence too. Also, mobile development is huge here now, and almost all of it is for iPhone or Android.
splicer 15y ago
In the past 2 months, 3 of my friends have left Ontario to go work for large tech companies in Seattle.
bokchoi 15y ago
Shh, don't let the word get out. The traffic is already bad enough around here.
cparedes 15y ago
Seattle is crazy awesome for startups, but man, SLU has changed a lot since I last worked there a couple of years ago at a research lab (and I think it changed for the worse - way more expensive food, not much variety.) Pioneer Square is very low key, has cheap eats, and has lots of startups.
- steveis99 15y ago
  Zynga is coming to Pioneer Square as well...
  - cparedes 15y ago
    Maybe they'll come in, then leave as soon as they're all settled in.
- exogen 15y ago
  Expensive food at all the Tom Douglas restaurants, maybe. But since you've left a dozen food trucks have come to the neighborhood: http://www.seattlefoodtruck.com/index.php/by-neighborhood-2/south-lake-union/ http://www.seattlefoodtruck.com/index.php/by-neighborhood-2/... – the variety is pretty good now!

65 points by frankus 15y ago

This is bound to happen. Microsoft is an aging giant though it still has some of the best minds in the industry. One concern I always have hiring from such old guard companies is that the people who have worked there for long, have skills too specific to the company they come from. They need some time adjusting to different technologies and development practices.

MartinCron 15y ago
I've seen a handful of companies with employees who couldn't get the idea that practices that are appropriate for Microsoft aren't appropriate for small startups. That said, I would take an ex-Microsoft over ex-Boeing or ex-Washington Mutual anyday.
- keithnoizu 15y ago
  I'm not entirely sold that the practices that are appropriate for microsoft are even appropriate for microsoft. Some orgs are pretty solid patterns and practices wise and some divisons are like stepping back into the early 90s.
- jacques_chester 15y ago
  You can't generalise how Microsoft does anything, because each division -- each team, even -- has enormous latitude in how they do their work. SEI boosters and agile fans can both say "Microsoft uses CMMI/Scrum" with a straight face and be correct.
bgramer 15y ago
The same is true of any location, not just Seattle.

jamesbritt 15y ago

There are some crazy smart Ruby people there. Makes me a bit envious.

epynonymous 15y ago

my previous company was based in seattle, so i've taken several trips there, in general it's a decent area, but i definitely prefer the bay area. though i can understand for companies and employees of the state, the lack of income tax and talent pool to be quite amazing.

philco 15y ago

We just moved Meeteor.com to Seattle, and it's been an amazing community to be a part of. Strong mix of design + developer talent, and the cost of living (and cost of hiring) is about half of the Bay Area's.... Seed Round Heaven.

nod 15y ago

This article only has a few of the biggest names. The real tech scene is somewhat larger: http://www.seattle20.com/startups.aspx http://www.seattle20.com/startups.aspx And Fremont is one more unmentioned tech neighborhood: Tableau Software, Ubermind, and Groundspeak wave hi from nextdoor to Impinj, Adobe, Google, and others...

philco 15y ago
We're in Fremont as well! Let's put a happy hour together next week at 9mm or Revel

earl 15y ago

There's a quantcast alumnus building a mobile analytics company there -- http://www.sewichi.com http://www.sewichi.com . It looks fascinating, and if any of you are looking for a cool young startup, it's probably worth a look. The founder, David, is a stand up guy who really understands the analytics space.

tzs 15y ago

When considering Seattle, also consider heading across Puget Sound. Here are some nice points for putting a company in Kitsap County. 1. Commuting from Seattle is easy, so employees who prefer to live in the city can. (I lived in Seattle for several years while working in Poulsbo, and the ferry ride was a wonderful time each day to catch up on my technical reading--or my science fiction reading. Or go up and get breakfast at the ferry's dining area and eat it and read the newspaper). 2. Low traffic, much more affordable housing, less noise, so employees who prefer those qualities for where they live can get them by living in Kitsap. And Seattle is just a ferry ride away for when you want the things the city offers. Of course it is possible to live in Kitsap and commute to Seattle, but that commute sucks because a lot of people do it. If you want to travel anywhere near morning or evening peak commute hours you can have long waits to get a ferry, and deal with lots of traffic. When you are going the other way, living in Seattle and commuting to Kitsap, it is a breeze even if you are working 8 to 5. I used to arrive at the terminal minutes before the boat was scheduled to leave and have no trouble getting on.

MartinCron 15y ago
One of the problems with the new emergent tech scene in South Lake Union is that it's not really workable for on-foot ferry commuters the same way the financial district is. Yes, it's possible to walk from the ferry terminal to SLU, I know someone who does, but it's quite the hike.
- dmor 15y ago
  but you can take the trolley from Westlake
  - sofal 15y ago
    It takes less time to walk to SLU from Westlake than it does to wait for the next trolley.
- lawnchair_larry 15y ago
  Who is in South Lake Union besides Amazon? Edit: Ah, missed that in the article. Salesforce and Facebook offices now.

pnathan 15y ago

One thing that I wonder about is the tech scene in Seattle: is it very Microsofty, or is open to things like Ruby, Linux, or Lisp?

Fizzer 15y ago
The great thing about developers is that they love to try new things, so even Microsoft's developers recognize that the Microsoft stack is not the best at everything. Most of the people I find who have their heads stuck in the Microsoft stack are non-coders, and those are less common at startups.
sofal 15y ago
At Amazon we do our part to turn Microsoft people on to Linux.
zachrose 15y ago
The joke at our startup was if we moved to the east side we'd have to switch over to a .NET stack.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
andywood 15y ago
I've been here 6 years, and my observation has been that the startup culture as a whole leans away from MS, if anything. Startups founded by ex-Microsoft employees do seem to be more likely to use Microsoft tech, but certainly not always. But remember that the wider tech scene here is much more than just Microsoft. Amazon is a big force, and Google has a respectable presence too. Also, mobile development is huge here now, and almost all of it is for iPhone or Android.

splicer 15y ago

In the past 2 months, 3 of my friends have left Ontario to go work for large tech companies in Seattle.

bokchoi 15y ago

Shh, don't let the word get out. The traffic is already bad enough around here.

cparedes 15y ago

Seattle is crazy awesome for startups, but man, SLU has changed a lot since I last worked there a couple of years ago at a research lab (and I think it changed for the worse - way more expensive food, not much variety.) Pioneer Square is very low key, has cheap eats, and has lots of startups.

steveis99 15y ago
Zynga is coming to Pioneer Square as well...
- cparedes 15y ago
  Maybe they'll come in, then leave as soon as they're all settled in.
exogen 15y ago
Expensive food at all the Tom Douglas restaurants, maybe. But since you've left a dozen food trucks have come to the neighborhood: http://www.seattlefoodtruck.com/index.php/by-neighborhood-2/south-lake-union/ http://www.seattlefoodtruck.com/index.php/by-neighborhood-2/... – the variety is pretty good now!