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This struck me too. The secrecy probably excludes remote work, so . . . they're going to have to pay massively to get the experience they apparently need down t

This struck me too. The secrecy probably excludes remote work, so . . . they're going to have to pay massively to get the experience they apparently need down there. This is a rare case where relocating to SV may actually be a cost reduction measure.

jusben1369 12y ago
I don't know. I can see it going both ways. Honestly, how many places sound this interesting to work at? Feels like Steve Jobs famous line about you can keep on making sugar water or you can change the world with us. It's hard for SV people to leave the Kool Aid but it wouldn't be too hard to pull anyone from a cold part of the US and/or already on the East Coast.
- Iftheshoefits 12y ago
  This company isn't targeting the SV "Kool Aid" crowd for engineering on the main product. Perhaps their web/mobile apps or other secondary products might target that crowd, but their core product is one that requires hardware and software teams working together, with the software teams implementing systems (applications or even lower level) programming, not fad driven JS-client-on-Ruby-backend web/mobile "apps". There just isn't enough such talent especially in Hollywood for them to attract it locally. By the same token, the tech industry there in general isn't strong enough to be attractive to someone coming from a tech-rich area like the Bay (or even Chicago or New York). I would not move to Florida for work without some significant salary and stability guarantees, because in the event the company goes belly up, relocates to a place I couldn't/wouldn't follow, or terminates my employment the quality of the "fallback" jobs is atrocious (especially in comparison to the work apparently being done at this place).
  - jusben1369 12y ago
    "SV Kool Aid" crowd are people who will never leave the Bay Area because they believe it's the only place to be. They wouldn't move anywhere else - even a major secondary hub on the West or East Coast. I also understand that you personally wouldn't take the risk and move. I just think that's a small sample size.
Iftheshoefits 12y ago
I don't know. They could pay a 20-30% premium over the typical IT wage there and still be far below SV averages, plus reap the benefits of Florida's tax incentives for entertainment industry companies (at least they used to have a massive tax break for such companies a couple of years ago, before I fled to the Bay Area--I doubled my salary, but my real cost of living only went up 30% or so, and the best part is I'm not working on some web/mobile app in a sweatshop/startup using fad-driven-development on a macbook). Maybe they're hoping to poach from the DoD/simulations and entertainment video game industries that form the backbone of the IT industry in that area, but even in that case I'm skeptical they're going to find much. The bigger problem, from my point of view, is basically one of culture. Most of florida is extremely conservative, focused on tourism-based entertainment, and (my opinion) neither very family friendly (for families who live there--the big tourist parks' existence doesn't make it a family friendly place) nor a good place for the younger Bay Area startup (stereo)types in terms of cultural and social attractions.

jusben1369 12y ago

I don't know. I can see it going both ways. Honestly, how many places sound this interesting to work at? Feels like Steve Jobs famous line about you can keep on making sugar water or you can change the world with us. It's hard for SV people to leave the Kool Aid but it wouldn't be too hard to pull anyone from a cold part of the US and/or already on the East Coast.

Iftheshoefits 12y ago
This company isn't targeting the SV "Kool Aid" crowd for engineering on the main product. Perhaps their web/mobile apps or other secondary products might target that crowd, but their core product is one that requires hardware and software teams working together, with the software teams implementing systems (applications or even lower level) programming, not fad driven JS-client-on-Ruby-backend web/mobile "apps". There just isn't enough such talent especially in Hollywood for them to attract it locally. By the same token, the tech industry there in general isn't strong enough to be attractive to someone coming from a tech-rich area like the Bay (or even Chicago or New York). I would not move to Florida for work without some significant salary and stability guarantees, because in the event the company goes belly up, relocates to a place I couldn't/wouldn't follow, or terminates my employment the quality of the "fallback" jobs is atrocious (especially in comparison to the work apparently being done at this place).
- jusben1369 12y ago
  "SV Kool Aid" crowd are people who will never leave the Bay Area because they believe it's the only place to be. They wouldn't move anywhere else - even a major secondary hub on the West or East Coast. I also understand that you personally wouldn't take the risk and move. I just think that's a small sample size.

Iftheshoefits 12y ago

I don't know. They could pay a 20-30% premium over the typical IT wage there and still be far below SV averages, plus reap the benefits of Florida's tax incentives for entertainment industry companies (at least they used to have a massive tax break for such companies a couple of years ago, before I fled to the Bay Area--I doubled my salary, but my real cost of living only went up 30% or so, and the best part is I'm not working on some web/mobile app in a sweatshop/startup using fad-driven-development on a macbook). Maybe they're hoping to poach from the DoD/simulations and entertainment video game industries that form the backbone of the IT industry in that area, but even in that case I'm skeptical they're going to find much. The bigger problem, from my point of view, is basically one of culture. Most of florida is extremely conservative, focused on tourism-based entertainment, and (my opinion) neither very family friendly (for families who live there--the big tourist parks' existence doesn't make it a family friendly place) nor a good place for the younger Bay Area startup (stereo)types in terms of cultural and social attractions.