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This makes me sad because I've been trying to move to Seattle from Madison, WI for years and was hoping the startup market would be better out there

tdeck 2y ago
It's all relative and I imagine there is more startup energy/funding here than in Madison, it's just not pervasive like it is in SF. Also we as an industry seem to be heading into a funding trough, only AI promises are keeping the bubble afloat.
- packetlost 2y ago
  > I imagine there is more startup energy/funding here than in Madison Probably, but also costs are quite a bit lower (they're much closer to Denver CoL if you can believe that). We have a pretty good amount of startups and a lot more "bigger" non-tech companies than you'd expect. I agree on the funding trough, but I think that's really the macro-economics at play. Midwest is pretty well shielded from that, so I'm kinda happy I'm here for the time being.
drewrv 2y ago
Startup market is fine, there are just fewer big companies than the bay.
quasse 2y ago
I made that exact move two years ago and I've gotta say, I actually miss the Madison tech scene. Seattle is basically a great place to work for a satellite office of one of the tech behemoths, but the actual hacker / enthusiast scene seems to have pretty much dried out. Seattle's Linux user's group died in 2020 and never came back, as an example. Madison had much better makerspaces and more of them, despite being a much smaller city. Madison was also small enough that you ended up connected to a lot of really smart people coming out of the university's CS / biomedical departments which seemed to sustain a pretty vibrant med-tech startup ecosystem. Edit to add: If anyone in Seattle does have meetup groups they enjoy, I'd love to hear about it! Hardware, electrical or software; I'd be up for any of them.
- packetlost 2y ago
  That's very interesting to hear. I wonder if Madison has a Linux/Unix users group. I 100% agree on the makerspace front. I actually worked with one of the founders of The Bodgery for awhile, despite not being my thing it sounds like a great place.
- tomrod 2y ago
  Died in 2020 due to Covid, or just died?
  - quasse 2y ago
    Looks like covid to me, the meetings just stopped being scheduled and never came back afterwards.
- memothon 2y ago
  Replying to bookmark
- pnathan 2y ago
  Look up the Seattle Rust meetup. Its still around. The whole Seattle scene imploded in 2020.
  - linotype 2y ago
    Why do you think it hasn’t come back?
    - pnathan 2y ago
      the seattle freeze is real. also a lot of people dipped out for other parts of the country.
- tdeck 2y ago
  > If anyone in Seattle does have meetup groups they enjoy, I'd love to hear about it! Hardware, electrical or software; I'd be up for any of them. I'm looking for the same thing, maybe we can compare notes! I've been going to the Capitol Hill Tool Library lately, which is my local makerspace. The space is small but they have a lot of traffic and people are generally very friendly and helpful. Also they have woodworking tools which I would never have in my apartment. In terms of makerspaces specifically I imagine the limiting factor is rent. When rent is too high you end up with a smaller space and less cash left over for equipment.

tdeck 2y ago

It's all relative and I imagine there is more startup energy/funding here than in Madison, it's just not pervasive like it is in SF. Also we as an industry seem to be heading into a funding trough, only AI promises are keeping the bubble afloat.

packetlost 2y ago
> I imagine there is more startup energy/funding here than in Madison Probably, but also costs are quite a bit lower (they're much closer to Denver CoL if you can believe that). We have a pretty good amount of startups and a lot more "bigger" non-tech companies than you'd expect. I agree on the funding trough, but I think that's really the macro-economics at play. Midwest is pretty well shielded from that, so I'm kinda happy I'm here for the time being.

drewrv 2y ago

Startup market is fine, there are just fewer big companies than the bay.

quasse 2y ago

I made that exact move two years ago and I've gotta say, I actually miss the Madison tech scene. Seattle is basically a great place to work for a satellite office of one of the tech behemoths, but the actual hacker / enthusiast scene seems to have pretty much dried out. Seattle's Linux user's group died in 2020 and never came back, as an example. Madison had much better makerspaces and more of them, despite being a much smaller city. Madison was also small enough that you ended up connected to a lot of really smart people coming out of the university's CS / biomedical departments which seemed to sustain a pretty vibrant med-tech startup ecosystem. Edit to add: If anyone in Seattle does have meetup groups they enjoy, I'd love to hear about it! Hardware, electrical or software; I'd be up for any of them.

packetlost 2y ago
That's very interesting to hear. I wonder if Madison has a Linux/Unix users group. I 100% agree on the makerspace front. I actually worked with one of the founders of The Bodgery for awhile, despite not being my thing it sounds like a great place.
tomrod 2y ago
Died in 2020 due to Covid, or just died?
- quasse 2y ago
  Looks like covid to me, the meetings just stopped being scheduled and never came back afterwards.
memothon 2y ago
Replying to bookmark
pnathan 2y ago
Look up the Seattle Rust meetup. Its still around. The whole Seattle scene imploded in 2020.
- linotype 2y ago
  Why do you think it hasn’t come back?
  - pnathan 2y ago
    the seattle freeze is real. also a lot of people dipped out for other parts of the country.
tdeck 2y ago
> If anyone in Seattle does have meetup groups they enjoy, I'd love to hear about it! Hardware, electrical or software; I'd be up for any of them. I'm looking for the same thing, maybe we can compare notes! I've been going to the Capitol Hill Tool Library lately, which is my local makerspace. The space is small but they have a lot of traffic and people are generally very friendly and helpful. Also they have woodworking tools which I would never have in my apartment. In terms of makerspaces specifically I imagine the limiting factor is rent. When rent is too high you end up with a smaller space and less cash left over for equipment.