frankly I think the whole east coast vs west coast thing in startups is stupid. You can do your startup from anywhere in the world....as long as you have a decent internet connection.
You want support? Come to HN and ask for advice. You want to do some collaboration with someone? Email/skype them. You want to listen to speakers/discussions about startups? Hit up mixergy.
Why is it in the age of the web, we still try to localize everything?
The only thing that really matters "localization" wise...is capital. Because in SV you have a ton of people investing in startups. While in NYC, the same people are investing in the stock market.
That's the only difference....being able to raise a ton of money quickly, simply by being local to the people who actually want to invest in tech startups.
"Why is it in the age of the web, we still try to localize everything?"
Because I still think there is something to be said about discussing things over lunch or while having a beer. Is it necessary? Of course not. But there is still something really nice about developing an in person, human connection.
People often ask me why I want to move to the west coast if I want to work on an internet business. After all, you can access the internet from anywhere.
The best analogy I've come up with is to say that it's like being a talented actor living in rural Arkansas. Sure, you can act from anywhere, but living somewhere that encourages and supports your talent (like Los Angeles in the case of acting), can make all the difference.
When I interview PG, I'm going to ask him how I can make those Mixergy interviews even more helpful. Past YC startups told me they got a lot out of the education and contacts from the program. I wonder how much more of that I can bring into my work.
because information / users / capital / infrastructure are still secondary to (imo) the most important factor in a startup, the passion and drive of the founders.
while the internet has greatly improved our access to knowledge, as good as skype and whatever are, it still hasnt replaced the experience of sitting down and having a beer with other founders and people passionate and knowledgeable about the same things.
IF the Dos Toros Taqueria just off Union Square brings to mind the sort of fresh, quick and cheap eating found at Mexican joints in the San Francisco Bay Area, that’s by design.
It was opened by Leo and Oliver Kremer, brothers from Berkeley, Calif., who worshiped Gordo Taqueria, a Bay Area favorite founded in 1977. Dos Toros is something of an homage.
I've been east for about 6 years and this is the closest I've gotten to good Mexican food. It is start up friendly[Read:cheap] and amazing- no burritos though last I checked.
I'm not sure a support group is exactly what is needed -- there are a bunch of those around (nextny comes to mind, and has been around for years).
However, I do agree that the startup scene is rather fragmented here in NYC. While there definitely are neighborhoods with higher concentrations of tech startups (SoHo, Chelsea, and Dumbo come to mind), there really is no 'startup district', if you will. We don't have a neighborhood like, say, South Park, where you have a ton of smaller startup companies concentrated into a fairly small area, or even a common district home to all the large tech companies, like the bay area has. We do have a financial district, fashion district, theater district, diamond district, jazz district, etc etc.
While not totally necessary, I do think having a physical center where similar types of businesses call home is really an overlooked part of the success of an industry. It creates a community and helps facilitate a natural type of networking, solely because people doing similar things run into each other every day. Plus the after-work drinks in the neighborhood bars would probably breed even more natural business deals/partnerships. I saw that happening a lot when I worked on Wall St -- you'd be tripping over other hedge fund guys at the pubs after work, just because of the nature of the neighborhood.
That said, I'd purpose somewhere like Gowanus in Brooklyn, where leases are cheap and the neighborhood is only now starting to be developed. Lots of Gowanus also has tax incentives associated with it, as it is one of the Empire Zones. Not to mention you're close to the third largest subway stop in the city, making commuting easy. Prospect Park is a short walk away as well.
The neighborhood is bound to change to a business focused area within a couple of years anyways, once the stadium for the Brooklyn Nets is built a couple blocks away at Atlantic Yards. Might as well make it a tech-centered district.
> We don't have a neighborhood like, say, South Park, where you have a ton of smaller startup companies concentrated into a fairly small area, or even a common district home to all the large tech companies, like the bay area has.
Where is this "common district home to all of the large tech companies, like the bay area has" that you're referring to?
If you're thinking of Mountain View, Palo Alto, or San Francisco, you're talking about a fairly large area that is also home to lots of other things. If you're thinking of some neighborhood in SF or Berkeley, you're missing a huge fraction of the startups in the Bay Area.
That reference says that South Park is a part of SoMA, a part that I worked in a couple of years ago. (SF is "famous" for folks inventing neighborhood names. They often do so to try to influence real estate values.)
Like I said, SoMA, let alone South Park, is not where "most" Bay Area startups are, even if it has more than the most popular NYC district.
Gowanus would be cool, except it's a bit far out of Manhattan, which is why DUMBO works.
DUMBO is a desert in terms of food choices though. (Not that South Park is any better), but DUMBO is also expensive to live in. I say put all the startups in Greenpoint (cheap labor (hipsters), low rent, and mccarren park!).
On a more serious note, I think it would be nice to have a dense concentration of startups in a nice part of town but I don't know how one would pull that off.
True, Gowanus isn't super close to manhattan, but I find that a lot of young developers live in Brooklyn to begin with, so not having to commute into the city is a win. If you're living in upper manhattan it might not be a great commute option, but what young person wants to live in upper manhattan? Brooklyn is way cooler ;)
Greenpoint I find is even more isolated than Gowanus, simply by the fact that the only viable transportation is the G. Gowanus has the 2,3,4,5,D,M,N,R,B,Q,G and LIRR all convenient to it. The hipsters can take a 10-15 minute G ride down, while everyone else in the city or out on Long Island can still have easy options to get there. It's beginning to develop in Gowanus over the past year, with new coffee shops, artist studios, big music venues, and plenty of vacant commercial buildings being renovated.
I'm interested as well. But I'm a little confused about the next step. Your post leads me to believe we're all supposed to contact you? I get the feeling that's not what you really want (for attendees)
You want support? Come to HN and ask for advice. You want to do some collaboration with someone? Email/skype them. You want to listen to speakers/discussions about startups? Hit up mixergy.
Why is it in the age of the web, we still try to localize everything?
The only thing that really matters "localization" wise...is capital. Because in SV you have a ton of people investing in startups. While in NYC, the same people are investing in the stock market.
That's the only difference....being able to raise a ton of money quickly, simply by being local to the people who actually want to invest in tech startups.