5 ms·

"followed by Cambridge/Boston" -- really? When I lived there, it was very very hard to find technical people that were not "corporate drones". I new maybe of on

by ardit33 19y ago

"followed by Cambridge/Boston" -- really? When I lived there, it was very very hard to find technical people that were not "corporate drones". I new maybe of only one or two startup (I am not sure they ended up anywhere). Most other companies are "enterprise oriented", such as VM-ware types. I remember attending few session at an incubator close to MIT campus. The speeches were given for people that had build products like "scanners" for airports, and government etc.. not software oriented One thing I remember, this guy from HBS, with a very smug attitude ( maybe b/c he got into haavad he thought he was better than everybody). Not a hacker friendly atmosphere at all. Most people there were the "business" types, that had "ideas" and buzzwords, but very low on concrete implementation and treated technical skills just as a commodity that could bought off in India. Boston is not "eccentric" and "whacky" enough to support an environment with lots of startups with crazy and novel ideas. Here is few facts: You don't see naked people in the streets on Boston's fairs. It is mostly family/9-5-er or young students, which tells you about the general population of the place. If you are in your mid 20s, and out of school, it is not a good place to be. You can't buy alcohol on Sundays You can't have wine/beer in a coffee place (Puritanism at max) Most coffee/food places around Harvard sq. and Davis sq (the artsy part) closed by MIDNIGHT!!! WTF? Most good programmers I know are most efficient at midnight, and having things/places to get "fuel", (coffee and food) and some re-energizing is very important. For many reasons, I think NYC would be a better place for a startup, if it wasn't so damn expensive, which kills ideas that have no business model right away. But as a place is very vibrant, lots of stuff to do, good looking women, and lots of money around, which are motivators for people to try harder and make it happen. The only thing that the Boston/Cambridge are has is it's student population. -- which not surprisingly moves out somewhere else after school, and that it is a very walk-able city. You can walk to places, take the T (subway), which is very cool. Personally, I like SF a lot, but I would never live in the South Bay. All those seas of parking lots and the "drive everywhere" culture is very depressing and soul drenching. Efficient for big corporations like HP and Yahoo, but I can't see it being good for a small start up. My preference for startups: SF beats them all. NYC second (if it wasn't so damn expensive), but it has bonus point for being so close to the old media advertising, then Cambridge/Boston (for having so many college kids around). I think, Eastern Europe is going to become more prominent in the IT world. You have lots of smart and well educated people at sciences, still cheap, and with a good sense of entrepreneurship (unlike India or China, which see life more as a career, eastern europeans are new to capitalism, and view this time as a great opportunity). It will take a decade or so, but you will see more things coming out from places like Hungary, Croatia, Romania etc. I doubt it will ever be a single large European "hub". Edited for spelling, and adding some content.

kingnothing 19y ago
They serve beer and wine in coffee shops in California? Strange.
- ardit33 19y ago
  Yes, good wine, beer, and Soju cocktails. And you can even drink it outside (if a coffee place has tables outside). Plus, you can go with shorts at work, it's ok to wake up late, and sometimes work from home, as long as you get you sh!t done. Plus, plenty of free food and drinks on the kitchen. And plenty of things like that, that you just wont find in 99% of the companies on the East Coast.
stuki 19y ago
Part of the reason for SV's attraction for tech startups (besides Stanford) was that it originally was a much more 'family friendly' place than contemporary San Francisco. Naked people, free flowing booze, drugs and late night parties are more important to media than tech hubs. Hence the difference between Hollywood and Mountain View. And is there still a place left on earth with any kind of entrepreneurial activity without Indians and Chinese involved? People from those cultures have for centuries spread out all over the world, leaving everything behind to follow trading opportunities. Outside Japan and Korea, their diaspora seem to own pretty much anything worth owning in both Asia and Africa. And quite a bit of America as well. At least from my experience, they seem about the unlikeliest candidates for the 'corporate drone' stereotype one can possibly choose. Once the general population in those countries starts having access to even 1950's level of US higher education spending, there's bound to be a lot of entrepreneurial activity there.
nostrademons 19y ago
"When I lived there, it was very very hard to find technical people that were not "corporate drones". I knew maybe of only one or two startup (I am not sure they ended up anywhere)." The startups are there, you just have to know where to look (i.e. have friends that also work for startups). They are very "enterprisey"; Boston doesn't do consumer startups the way the West Coast does. The culture is also very different here: on the East Coast, there's this notion of paying your dues before you're ready to start your own thing. You're expected to suffer (probably a legacy of Boston's Puritan heritage) before you're ready to strike it big. A typical Bostonian startup's path involves working for 10-30 years at one of the area businesses in your field, then gathering up some professional colleagues and striking out on your own, often building some tool that your former employer wants to buy. My former boss was dead-set against me striking out on my own - he doesn't believe I've "paid my dues" and have enough industry experience to make it. The idea of striking out into an unproven market, discovering it as you go along, and building your product on the way is complete anathema to the Boston startup scene. Here, you're often expected to have a customer in hand (usually your former employer) when you approach venture capitalists, along with a team averaging 20-30 years industry experience or serious research background. Almost all the startup founders I know here fit that pattern. Avici's founders had all worked for BBN for about 30 years. Avid's technical founder had worked for DEC for several years. I think much of Stratus's initial team came from DEC. Cybersmith's team came from Stratus and DEC. One former employer spun off of Cybersmith. Another's founder had been a trader on Wall Street (this was a financial software). One of the other places I interviewed was a spinoff of Eze Castle, where the product had originally been developed. I'd recommend Boston for any older founders in the audience. Move to Boston, spend 5-10 years working at area companies while you build up professional contacts, and then strike out on your own. Boston doesn't have the prejudice against older entrepreneurs that you'll find in SV, because for most of the industries here, age is an asset and not a liability. Plus, it's a good place to raise a kid: the Boston suburbs (particularly to the west and northwest) are very safe, have good schools, strong senses of community, and lots of leafy wooded areas. Nearly all the young startup-type folk I know - the ones without families, at least - are moving out to California though. Their youth is an asset and not a liability there, and they get to work on generally cooler problems.

by ardit33 19y ago

kingnothing 19y ago

They serve beer and wine in coffee shops in California? Strange.

ardit33 19y ago
Yes, good wine, beer, and Soju cocktails. And you can even drink it outside (if a coffee place has tables outside). Plus, you can go with shorts at work, it's ok to wake up late, and sometimes work from home, as long as you get you sh!t done. Plus, plenty of free food and drinks on the kitchen. And plenty of things like that, that you just wont find in 99% of the companies on the East Coast.

stuki 19y ago

Part of the reason for SV's attraction for tech startups (besides Stanford) was that it originally was a much more 'family friendly' place than contemporary San Francisco. Naked people, free flowing booze, drugs and late night parties are more important to media than tech hubs. Hence the difference between Hollywood and Mountain View. And is there still a place left on earth with any kind of entrepreneurial activity without Indians and Chinese involved? People from those cultures have for centuries spread out all over the world, leaving everything behind to follow trading opportunities. Outside Japan and Korea, their diaspora seem to own pretty much anything worth owning in both Asia and Africa. And quite a bit of America as well. At least from my experience, they seem about the unlikeliest candidates for the 'corporate drone' stereotype one can possibly choose. Once the general population in those countries starts having access to even 1950's level of US higher education spending, there's bound to be a lot of entrepreneurial activity there.

nostrademons 19y ago

"When I lived there, it was very very hard to find technical people that were not "corporate drones". I knew maybe of only one or two startup (I am not sure they ended up anywhere)." The startups are there, you just have to know where to look (i.e. have friends that also work for startups). They are very "enterprisey"; Boston doesn't do consumer startups the way the West Coast does. The culture is also very different here: on the East Coast, there's this notion of paying your dues before you're ready to start your own thing. You're expected to suffer (probably a legacy of Boston's Puritan heritage) before you're ready to strike it big. A typical Bostonian startup's path involves working for 10-30 years at one of the area businesses in your field, then gathering up some professional colleagues and striking out on your own, often building some tool that your former employer wants to buy. My former boss was dead-set against me striking out on my own - he doesn't believe I've "paid my dues" and have enough industry experience to make it. The idea of striking out into an unproven market, discovering it as you go along, and building your product on the way is complete anathema to the Boston startup scene. Here, you're often expected to have a customer in hand (usually your former employer) when you approach venture capitalists, along with a team averaging 20-30 years industry experience or serious research background. Almost all the startup founders I know here fit that pattern. Avici's founders had all worked for BBN for about 30 years. Avid's technical founder had worked for DEC for several years. I think much of Stratus's initial team came from DEC. Cybersmith's team came from Stratus and DEC. One former employer spun off of Cybersmith. Another's founder had been a trader on Wall Street (this was a financial software). One of the other places I interviewed was a spinoff of Eze Castle, where the product had originally been developed. I'd recommend Boston for any older founders in the audience. Move to Boston, spend 5-10 years working at area companies while you build up professional contacts, and then strike out on your own. Boston doesn't have the prejudice against older entrepreneurs that you'll find in SV, because for most of the industries here, age is an asset and not a liability. Plus, it's a good place to raise a kid: the Boston suburbs (particularly to the west and northwest) are very safe, have good schools, strong senses of community, and lots of leafy wooded areas. Nearly all the young startup-type folk I know - the ones without families, at least - are moving out to California though. Their youth is an asset and not a liability there, and they get to work on generally cooler problems.