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Austin. I didn't even think of that. Who's the catalyst there?

by far33d 19y ago

jsjenkins168 19y ago
University of Texas, National Instruments, AMD, Dell are some of the big contributors of talent. Tech stuff is growing here, and there are unfortunately some growing pains as a result. The startup culture is still not what you'd see in silicon valley, but I'd say its improving. Incidentally, there's been a growing trend of Californians moving to Austin.
zach 19y ago
Austin is like the only city in 750 miles with a substantial high-tech background and a creative-class culture, isn't it? I've spent time in Dallas (home of Texas Instruments) and while it is a nice working-class metroplex, Austin seems to have far more of the character of a startup hub. Same thing with St. Louis, I understand. On the other hand, Lawrence, Kansas has the character but not the high-tech (and it's kinda little).
- mrevelle 19y ago
  Austin also has Univ. of Texas - ranked seventh in CS research. The startup I'm involved with is planning on opening up offices there when it's time to grow.
  - ivankirigin 19y ago
    Also, the slogan of the town is "Keep Austin Weird". I like it.
- Xichekolas 19y ago
  Funny you should mention Lawrence and Austin in the same post. As a current resident of Lawrence, I can attest that this would be a great town to start a startup in, but there seems a definite lack of interest from the CS grads. Everyone seems bent on a big paycheck at Sprint or Cerner or Garmin. I actually like Austin because it's like a bigger Lawrence, but never actually lived there. All I really wish is for a place with a bunch of nerds and some fiber-to-the-home. Sadly, AT&T owns us here and something that fast will probably never happen.
- aggieben 18y ago
  Dallas has a substantial high-tech background and has an interesting creative class, but there's not much intersection between the two. It also doesn't help much that the business attitudes in Dallas are very traditional and "corporate" (not sure how else to explain it). It's a shame, too, because there are 2-3 decent universities here, and various swarms of talent, but absolutely zero community. Plano and Richardson probably fare better than most places with respect to interesting new companies and tech startups, but they've got a long way to go. I'd probably bet on Plano, if I had to choose. They've got some cultural outlets, an interesting historic downtown, a handful of technology companies, and it's a nice place to live with decent local governments, and it's nearby UT-Dallas, which is the best technology school in the Dallas Metro area (although not flagship like UT and TAMU).
JMiao 19y ago
don't forget the game developers.

Austin. I didn't even think of that. Who's the catalyst there?

by far33d 19y ago

Austin. I didn't even think of that. Who's the catalyst there?

University of Texas, National Instruments, AMD, Dell are some of the big contributors of talent. Tech stuff is growing here, and there are unfortunately some growing pains as a result. The startup culture is still not what you'd see in silicon valley, but I'd say its improving. Incidentally, there's been a growing trend of Californians moving to Austin.

zach 19y ago

Austin is like the only city in 750 miles with a substantial high-tech background and a creative-class culture, isn't it? I've spent time in Dallas (home of Texas Instruments) and while it is a nice working-class metroplex, Austin seems to have far more of the character of a startup hub. Same thing with St. Louis, I understand. On the other hand, Lawrence, Kansas has the character but not the high-tech (and it's kinda little).

mrevelle 19y ago
Austin also has Univ. of Texas - ranked seventh in CS research. The startup I'm involved with is planning on opening up offices there when it's time to grow.
- ivankirigin 19y ago
  Also, the slogan of the town is "Keep Austin Weird". I like it.
Xichekolas 19y ago
Funny you should mention Lawrence and Austin in the same post. As a current resident of Lawrence, I can attest that this would be a great town to start a startup in, but there seems a definite lack of interest from the CS grads. Everyone seems bent on a big paycheck at Sprint or Cerner or Garmin. I actually like Austin because it's like a bigger Lawrence, but never actually lived there. All I really wish is for a place with a bunch of nerds and some fiber-to-the-home. Sadly, AT&T owns us here and something that fast will probably never happen.
aggieben 18y ago
Dallas has a substantial high-tech background and has an interesting creative class, but there's not much intersection between the two. It also doesn't help much that the business attitudes in Dallas are very traditional and "corporate" (not sure how else to explain it). It's a shame, too, because there are 2-3 decent universities here, and various swarms of talent, but absolutely zero community. Plano and Richardson probably fare better than most places with respect to interesting new companies and tech startups, but they've got a long way to go. I'd probably bet on Plano, if I had to choose. They've got some cultural outlets, an interesting historic downtown, a handful of technology companies, and it's a nice place to live with decent local governments, and it's nearby UT-Dallas, which is the best technology school in the Dallas Metro area (although not flagship like UT and TAMU).

JMiao 19y ago

don't forget the game developers.