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Related question: if you're not aiming to raise money or grow big fast, how important is it to be in a tech hub? I live in Waltham, right outside of Boston, an

by matt1 15y ago

Related question: if you're not aiming to raise money or grow big fast, how important is it to be in a tech hub? I live in Waltham, right outside of Boston, and am considering moving somewhere cheaper and warmer because the benefits of building a company here (or SV) don't seem as important if you're going the MicroISV/Micropreneur route. Thoughts?

ericabiz 15y ago
Come to Austin. We have a nice tech scene here (and budding seed/angel funding community) and it's still relatively cheap to live here. And it's pretty warm--though the summers get hot. But that's the beauty of growing an Internet business--locate somewhere it's cheap, and head out for a month or two whenever you need to.
- matt1 15y ago
  Thanks. My wife and I are leaning towards Orlando due to its proximity to family. Can anyone comment on the Orlando startup scene?
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - wtvanhest 15y ago
    It is cheaper and there is a lot of low priced, decent talent coming from UCF but if you are selling locally it will be tough since everything sells for less there. You will also have no backup plan if your startup doesn't work since wages are so low. There is no startup scene and everyone you meet will work in real estate or hospitality. I live in beacon hill now and can tell you that I am constantly impressed by the smart people I meet in Boston. When I lived in Orlando I felt the exact opposite.
    - phishphood 15y ago
      this. I love florida and usually spend a month or two in the winter there. I am not impressed with the people, coming back to boston is a breath of a fresh air. I can move my startup there full time but I don't primarily because of how out of place I feel most of the time (and its too darn hot in the summer)
  - wtvanhest 15y ago
    Also, once you experience a Florida winter you will always laugh at people who say they "love the seasons ". If you decide to move there feel free to email me any Orlando specific questions.
    - dasil003 15y ago
      I don't get it. Are you saying that's a platitude that people tell themselves because it sucks where they live? No, I love the seasons. I love a heavy winter storm and hiking up into the back country for virgin runs in 3 feet of champagne powder. I love sitting in front of a roaring piñon fire drinking hot cocoa. I love the spring thaw and swollen rivers. I love the summer and the heat and the smells and sitting on the porch at night. I love the fall and the aspens turning with long hikes and mountain bike rides. I've also lived in central Brazil which is quite a bit nicer and more steady than Florida being medium elevation in the tropics (ie. daylight and temperature vary only slightly and it's not too humid). I mean it's nice to visit from a winter climate, but I prefer some variation.
      - wtvanhest 15y ago
        It was a little bit of a joke with a lot of truth to it. I live in Boston now and wish it were warm like Florida but it is worth having crappy weather for everything else the city has to offer.
evandena 15y ago
Check out Madison, WI. http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/24/wisconsin-land-of-beer-cheese-and-startups/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/24/wisconsin-land-of-beer-chee... As one comment summed up: "As the founder of a 5 strong semi-stealth Madison startup I can definitely attest to our fair city's startup culture. Great university, great lifestyle options and create urban and natural environments. It's hard to beat our live-work-play stats outside of Europe. We've been rated the best place to live in the US, raise a family, bike, and other various accolades from major orgs/mags over the years."
- mhartl 15y ago
  I always wonder if such commenters have ever lived in or even visited SV or SF. I liken it to occasional comments I've heard that the Bay Area has a thriving entertainment scene. These people have clearly never lived in LA. Until you've lived in a hub for Industry X, you really have no idea how thoroughly Industry X can saturate you and seep into your brain by osmosis. It seems like everyone in Silicon Valley is in on a deal or a startup. In LA, people talk about "the industry" without explanation—everyone knows which industry they're talking about. If you want your tech startup to have the best chances of success, there's no substitute for moving to the Bay Area. That's only one axis on which to optimize, of course, and there's more to life than maximizing the value of your company. But anyone who thinks that the Madison (etc.) startup scene is a reasonable substitute for the Bay Area needs to get on an airplane tout de suite and hang out in Palo Alto, Mountain View, or SOMA for a week. Believe me, it'll blow their mind.
  - gms 15y ago
    I live in Boston and visit SF twice a year and I agree.
rubiety 15y ago
San Diego. I moved here on a whim a bit over a year ago after traveling all over the country on JetBlue flying places. San Diego just seemed to have an incredibly high quality of life, and it does. There's also a great Ruby community here if you happen to be a Ruby developer: http://sdruby.org http://sdruby.org
chimeracoder 15y ago
I was born in Waltham and grew up in the area; I'm in New York right now. It's unclear what stage you're at right now from your question, but being in a tech hub isn't always as important as you think. If you grow beyond a certain size (hard to quantify; there's no hard-and-fast rule here), you'd be foolish not to have at least an office in/near one of the large hubs, but that's not necessarily the biggest consideration at the beginning. By the way, this is one area in which tech isn't really any different than any other industry - you'd be surprised how many companies in the financial sector have headquarters elsewhere and simply have a (rather large) office in New York (though not usually on Wall St. - that's more of a metonymy than the actual center of business these days).

by matt1 15y ago

ericabiz 15y ago

Come to Austin. We have a nice tech scene here (and budding seed/angel funding community) and it's still relatively cheap to live here. And it's pretty warm--though the summers get hot. But that's the beauty of growing an Internet business--locate somewhere it's cheap, and head out for a month or two whenever you need to.

matt1 15y ago
Thanks. My wife and I are leaning towards Orlando due to its proximity to family. Can anyone comment on the Orlando startup scene?
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- wtvanhest 15y ago
  It is cheaper and there is a lot of low priced, decent talent coming from UCF but if you are selling locally it will be tough since everything sells for less there. You will also have no backup plan if your startup doesn't work since wages are so low. There is no startup scene and everyone you meet will work in real estate or hospitality. I live in beacon hill now and can tell you that I am constantly impressed by the smart people I meet in Boston. When I lived in Orlando I felt the exact opposite.
  - phishphood 15y ago
    this. I love florida and usually spend a month or two in the winter there. I am not impressed with the people, coming back to boston is a breath of a fresh air. I can move my startup there full time but I don't primarily because of how out of place I feel most of the time (and its too darn hot in the summer)
- wtvanhest 15y ago
  Also, once you experience a Florida winter you will always laugh at people who say they "love the seasons ". If you decide to move there feel free to email me any Orlando specific questions.
  - dasil003 15y ago
    I don't get it. Are you saying that's a platitude that people tell themselves because it sucks where they live? No, I love the seasons. I love a heavy winter storm and hiking up into the back country for virgin runs in 3 feet of champagne powder. I love sitting in front of a roaring piñon fire drinking hot cocoa. I love the spring thaw and swollen rivers. I love the summer and the heat and the smells and sitting on the porch at night. I love the fall and the aspens turning with long hikes and mountain bike rides. I've also lived in central Brazil which is quite a bit nicer and more steady than Florida being medium elevation in the tropics (ie. daylight and temperature vary only slightly and it's not too humid). I mean it's nice to visit from a winter climate, but I prefer some variation.
    - wtvanhest 15y ago
      It was a little bit of a joke with a lot of truth to it. I live in Boston now and wish it were warm like Florida but it is worth having crappy weather for everything else the city has to offer.

evandena 15y ago

Check out Madison, WI. http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/24/wisconsin-land-of-beer-cheese-and-startups/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/24/wisconsin-land-of-beer-chee... As one comment summed up: "As the founder of a 5 strong semi-stealth Madison startup I can definitely attest to our fair city's startup culture. Great university, great lifestyle options and create urban and natural environments. It's hard to beat our live-work-play stats outside of Europe. We've been rated the best place to live in the US, raise a family, bike, and other various accolades from major orgs/mags over the years."

mhartl 15y ago
I always wonder if such commenters have ever lived in or even visited SV or SF. I liken it to occasional comments I've heard that the Bay Area has a thriving entertainment scene. These people have clearly never lived in LA. Until you've lived in a hub for Industry X, you really have no idea how thoroughly Industry X can saturate you and seep into your brain by osmosis. It seems like everyone in Silicon Valley is in on a deal or a startup. In LA, people talk about "the industry" without explanation—everyone knows which industry they're talking about. If you want your tech startup to have the best chances of success, there's no substitute for moving to the Bay Area. That's only one axis on which to optimize, of course, and there's more to life than maximizing the value of your company. But anyone who thinks that the Madison (etc.) startup scene is a reasonable substitute for the Bay Area needs to get on an airplane tout de suite and hang out in Palo Alto, Mountain View, or SOMA for a week. Believe me, it'll blow their mind.
- gms 15y ago
  I live in Boston and visit SF twice a year and I agree.

rubiety 15y ago

San Diego. I moved here on a whim a bit over a year ago after traveling all over the country on JetBlue flying places. San Diego just seemed to have an incredibly high quality of life, and it does. There's also a great Ruby community here if you happen to be a Ruby developer: http://sdruby.org http://sdruby.org

chimeracoder 15y ago

I was born in Waltham and grew up in the area; I'm in New York right now. It's unclear what stage you're at right now from your question, but being in a tech hub isn't always as important as you think. If you grow beyond a certain size (hard to quantify; there's no hard-and-fast rule here), you'd be foolish not to have at least an office in/near one of the large hubs, but that's not necessarily the biggest consideration at the beginning. By the way, this is one area in which tech isn't really any different than any other industry - you'd be surprised how many companies in the financial sector have headquarters elsewhere and simply have a (rather large) office in New York (though not usually on Wall St. - that's more of a metonymy than the actual center of business these days).