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http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/networth/article/Average-S-F-rent-hits-shocking-new-high-3-458-6232039.php http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/networth/arti

http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/networth/article/Average-S-F-rent-hits-shocking-new-high-3-458-6232039.php http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/networth/article/Average... 12k is a small sum of money in SF. Assuming the founders don't want to live together in a studio, looking at >5k month in just rent. Other costs of living are also high. This leaves almost nothing for any actual start up costs. Makes some sense if you're 22 and have no dependents, but 12k wouldn't be persuasive for a Bay Area founder with a family.

wiseleo 11y ago
There is plenty of less expensive real estate along BART. Take a look at San Leandro, for example. Other costs can be reduced as well. I consider living in SF as an unnecessary luxury.
- _delirium 11y ago
  Plus the pitch doesn't even encourage people to move to SF; it encourages them to move to Silicon Valley, which is also where YC is based. It's not super-cheap either, but there is plenty of Valley housing <$3k.
  - 7Figures2Commas 11y ago
    > It's not super-cheap either, but there is plenty of Valley housing <$3k. You're right. You can find studio and one bedroom apartments sub-$3K in places like Redwood City. The problem for starving founders is that landlords aren't going to lease to you when you can't show a sufficient, reliable income source (read: a real job) and sufficient credit score/history.
- chaostheory 11y ago
  Yes there's Fremont, Hayward, Oakland, South SF, Daly City, and even more as well. Renting a room instead of an apartment helps a lot. It's $600-800 with utilities.
timr 11y ago
Easy solution with no drawbacks: don't move to San Francisco. I've lived here for a while, and I wouldn't move here to do a startup today. Whatever marginal advantage there may have been to founding something here (and it was always small) has been more than consumed by the ridiculous costs. There's not even a recruiting advantage to locating here -- unemployment amongst software engineers in the SF bay area is like -150%. Every experienced engineer gets recruited on a daily basis, by startup companies that are basically indistinguishable. Startups here are increasingly hiring remote just to make it work (which seems like the worst of all worlds, really.) Unless you're doing something where your customer base is in San Francisco (i.e. writing something for startups...or maybe tourism), you should definitely be somewhere else. Go where your customers are.
lnanek2 11y ago
For rich people, it is a small sum. I've lived in a private room in East Palo Alto while working on startups for years for $500/month rent. If having your own private place is a must, I think you should be working at a big company anyway, since you sure aren't sacrificing any comfort for your startup.

wiseleo 11y ago

There is plenty of less expensive real estate along BART. Take a look at San Leandro, for example. Other costs can be reduced as well. I consider living in SF as an unnecessary luxury.

_delirium 11y ago
Plus the pitch doesn't even encourage people to move to SF; it encourages them to move to Silicon Valley, which is also where YC is based. It's not super-cheap either, but there is plenty of Valley housing <$3k.
- 7Figures2Commas 11y ago
  > It's not super-cheap either, but there is plenty of Valley housing <$3k. You're right. You can find studio and one bedroom apartments sub-$3K in places like Redwood City. The problem for starving founders is that landlords aren't going to lease to you when you can't show a sufficient, reliable income source (read: a real job) and sufficient credit score/history.
chaostheory 11y ago
Yes there's Fremont, Hayward, Oakland, South SF, Daly City, and even more as well. Renting a room instead of an apartment helps a lot. It's $600-800 with utilities.

timr 11y ago

Easy solution with no drawbacks: don't move to San Francisco. I've lived here for a while, and I wouldn't move here to do a startup today. Whatever marginal advantage there may have been to founding something here (and it was always small) has been more than consumed by the ridiculous costs. There's not even a recruiting advantage to locating here -- unemployment amongst software engineers in the SF bay area is like -150%. Every experienced engineer gets recruited on a daily basis, by startup companies that are basically indistinguishable. Startups here are increasingly hiring remote just to make it work (which seems like the worst of all worlds, really.) Unless you're doing something where your customer base is in San Francisco (i.e. writing something for startups...or maybe tourism), you should definitely be somewhere else. Go where your customers are.

lnanek2 11y ago

For rich people, it is a small sum. I've lived in a private room in East Palo Alto while working on startups for years for $500/month rent. If having your own private place is a must, I think you should be working at a big company anyway, since you sure aren't sacrificing any comfort for your startup.