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Obviously, Silicon Valley is the capital of the startup world. But would a startup that's successful there fail in New York? My wariness about the Bay Area is
by karzeem 19y ago
Obviously, Silicon Valley is the capital of the startup world. But would a startup that's successful there fail in New York?
My wariness about the Bay Area is mainly related to groupthink. Being surrounded by people who are all in the same industry, thinking about the same issues, talking about the same things, has obvious benefits. At the same time, it seems that the only companies that succeed, whether they're based in the Bay Area or not, are the ones that ignore an important piece of conventional wisdom. And that seems like it would be harder to do when you're immersed in it. If you don't want to drink the Kool-Aid, you should have some hesitation about moving to the factory.
The upside of New York specifically, and Boston too (besides the fact that they're beautiful, vibrant cities), is the cross-pollination you get by being in touch with different cultures and industries. In the right circumstances, that benefit could greatly outweigh the value of being in a place that has bigger-name VCs and contacts.
And lastly, Google's second-biggest office is in New York, so that may be the beginning of something very important there.
- yamadacracy 19y agoI agree with you on most things but differ with one point - for some reason, it's very hard to find people to take plunges, even part time, in New York. New York is very image concerned and can be vicious, professionaly and socially, if you misstep. Failure in Silicon Valley is seen as part of learning. In most other parts of the word it's seen as ... just failure. In New York it seems to be evidence that all your ancestors suck and you'll go on to become re-incarnated as a worm for all eternity. Ironically, though - I think that if you could transplant the "let's do it" mentality of SV to NY, then NY would be just as and possibly more successful. I can't for the like of me figure out why more people in NY can't find the spine to try more things. On the other hand, the life can be a bit too "vibrant" ... I know some good techie folks but they're more likely trying to go to some wine tasting at a posh lounge than coding until 1 a.m. So it definately has potential, IMO, but for some reason the fuse is wet and can't seem to spark.
- pg 19y agoEmpirically the advantages of concentration are bigger than the disadvantages, and this applies as much when comparing NYC and the Bay Area as Detroit and NYC. Google's NY office doesn't signify anything in particular. They knew a lot of smart people were trapped on the east coast, e.g. by family stuff, so they established an office here. They put it in NYC because they already had an ad sales office there. I think that was a mistake, actually; Boston is a much more Googly place than NYC.
- danielha 19y agoThe Google in Cambridge is a pretty substantial operation and I believe it's growing quite fast.