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> ...one of the most important things Silicon Valley has that is not found in most other cities is a deep and pervasive software engineering and computer scienc

> ...one of the most important things Silicon Valley has that is not found in most other cities is a deep and pervasive software engineering and computer science talent pool that startups can draw from. I disagree with the notion that it's "difficult" to build a tech startup in most cities outside of the Bay Area, although I would agree that certain types of tech startups, particularly those seeking funding, have very good incentives to set up shop in Silicon Valley/San Francisco. But to your point about talent, I think the Bay Area is a double-edged sword. Yes, candidates are in theory plentiful, but just about every startup I encounter is hiring and a common complaint is that it's very difficult to find "good" engineers. Is the pool of truly skilled/experienced candidates not large enough to support the ecosystem? Are startups being too picky? I don't know, but I don't see any evidence whatsoever that startups are generally finding it easy to build a team here.

lsc 13y ago
>but just about every startup I encounter is hiring and a common complaint is that it's very difficult to find "good" engineers. My impression is that standards are higher here. I've worked in the central valley, and most of the jobs I had there? I was... like a little god. My arrogance was justified at every turn. Here? generally I have to put in at least some effort to just make mediocre, and I simply am not made of the stuff required to be the best. From that point of view, the salary difference might be justified just on skill. (I mean, there are very good people living in the flyover. The density is just dramatically lower. I'm arguing here that the average engineer in the silicon valley is much better than the average engineer elsewhere. There /are/ outliers, and often looking for those outliers can be quite productive.)

lsc 13y ago

>but just about every startup I encounter is hiring and a common complaint is that it's very difficult to find "good" engineers. My impression is that standards are higher here. I've worked in the central valley, and most of the jobs I had there? I was... like a little god. My arrogance was justified at every turn. Here? generally I have to put in at least some effort to just make mediocre, and I simply am not made of the stuff required to be the best. From that point of view, the salary difference might be justified just on skill. (I mean, there are very good people living in the flyover. The density is just dramatically lower. I'm arguing here that the average engineer in the silicon valley is much better than the average engineer elsewhere. There /are/ outliers, and often looking for those outliers can be quite productive.)