4 ms·

Just as an aside, it is crazy that Bay Area prices have gotten to the point that you need to win in a startup to buy a house. It really seems like a much better

by temphn 14y ago

Just as an aside, it is crazy that Bay Area prices have gotten to the point that you need to win in a startup to buy a house. It really seems like a much better decision to rent indefinitely or buy somewhere in the Midwest, where house prices are 1/20 the cost.

lifeisstillgood 14y ago
What I meant was that if a founder spends say 3-5 years building up a start up to get to series A (The first VC round), and they do not get any liquidity out from the round they are just going to turn off. If you are still living on ramen after 10 or even 5 years, its your psychology that is driving you, not a well rounded approach to business. BTW, house prices are mostly insane, but they are insane because we cannot design cities right, and almost everyone wants to live in a city. (Or more accdurately have the amenities of a city) I think this is something pg recommends, but a lot of these things fall into my mental "just in time" bin - when I am looking for VC funding, I will look up the reference.
- michaelochurch 14y ago
  House prices are high because the people who spend resources corrupting and deceiving planning committees and urban regulatory bodies are, as one might guess, people who own a lot of real estate. Combine regulatory corruption and price inelasticity and you get expensive real estate.
  - lifeisstillgood 14y ago
    I cannot believe that a world-wide bubble-like increase in house prices over the past four decades is down to back-handers to planning committees at golf clubs, in Spain, Crimea, Italy, Wisconsin and London. I think simply that there are an awful lot of people who want to live where the jobs are. In cities. And there are few nice places in cities, partly because that is the nature of the urban beast, but mostly because we design cities badly. Cities can be badly affected by poor planning decisions - and those are driven more often by lack of regulation than active corruption. I mean many cities are blighted by 1960s tower blocks and concrete jungles. Those were not put up by corruption - they were active policy. The wrong policy but still not corrupt, just f'ing stupid short sighted and moronic. not bitter

by temphn 14y ago

lifeisstillgood 14y ago

What I meant was that if a founder spends say 3-5 years building up a start up to get to series A (The first VC round), and they do not get any liquidity out from the round they are just going to turn off. If you are still living on ramen after 10 or even 5 years, its your psychology that is driving you, not a well rounded approach to business. BTW, house prices are mostly insane, but they are insane because we cannot design cities right, and almost everyone wants to live in a city. (Or more accdurately have the amenities of a city) I think this is something pg recommends, but a lot of these things fall into my mental "just in time" bin - when I am looking for VC funding, I will look up the reference.

michaelochurch 14y ago
House prices are high because the people who spend resources corrupting and deceiving planning committees and urban regulatory bodies are, as one might guess, people who own a lot of real estate. Combine regulatory corruption and price inelasticity and you get expensive real estate.
- lifeisstillgood 14y ago
  I cannot believe that a world-wide bubble-like increase in house prices over the past four decades is down to back-handers to planning committees at golf clubs, in Spain, Crimea, Italy, Wisconsin and London. I think simply that there are an awful lot of people who want to live where the jobs are. In cities. And there are few nice places in cities, partly because that is the nature of the urban beast, but mostly because we design cities badly. Cities can be badly affected by poor planning decisions - and those are driven more often by lack of regulation than active corruption. I mean many cities are blighted by 1960s tower blocks and concrete jungles. Those were not put up by corruption - they were active policy. The wrong policy but still not corrupt, just f'ing stupid short sighted and moronic. not bitter