4 ms·

The money should go farther in Nevada but probably not 3x.

• rdl 14y ago
  Housing is probably 1/3 or 1/4 the cost (or less), so I guess it depends on whether you can compromise heavily on housing while doing a startup vs. other things. Certainly iPads and Macbooks cost the same in both places. Income taxes maybe not so relevant. 1/2?
  • ktsmith 14y ago
    Income taxes can be relevant, Microsoft licensing isn't in Reno for nothing, Apple and every other large company tends to pass billions of dollars of revenue through Nevada due to the lack of corporate income tax. Nevada also still has no personal income tax. Home prices are definitely lower but it's only about 1/2 for most desirable areas not 1/4. Equipment costs are going to be the same of course but access to other services (bandwidth comes to mind) will be much more limited and in many cases much more expensive. There also won't be a huge savings on corporate office space in places like downtown Las Vegas or even downtown Reno. Companies starting in Nevada will get a bit of a benefit due to the looser requirements on employee benefits and companies can get away with offering crappier benefits due to a lack of job availability in the area. The flip side of that coin is that there isn't a ton of top notch talent in the area. The top notch talent is making a salary on par with SV or at most 10-15% less. Top talent is constantly leaving the area for SV rather than moving to the area. Most of the companies that I know are actively recruiting recruit out of Oregon and the midwest. Getting people to relocate from California to Nevada, especially the Bay Area to Las Vegas is going to be a real challenge. Vegas doesn't have a lot going on for it.