I moved here ~2 years ago to join an early stage startup and while its "not what is used to be"[1] I have personally benefited a lot from being exposed to the business and engineering culture here. I'm starting my own company now and have access to much more networking events and people who "get it" than I think I could have access to if I lived anywhere else. I haven't though so its hard to say.
There is an incredible amount of tacit knowledge in this city that is hard to really internalize until you are actually here and living through it. I think programs like https://www.siltahouse.com/home take a great advantage of these things.
There's a lot of counter intuitive things about early stage that you can't really convey in a blog post, or you may not even believe until you see it yourself up close from people. The open minded attitudes and culture around risk is something that you can really internalize when you are around other people who give you the correct social proof.
Is this all things you can get other places? Sure! It may not matter as much as it did 10 years ago, but you will have a hard time not getting a positive experience out of living, working, or building in the Bay Area.
[1] people have said this since the beginning of time about everything anyways
> The open minded attitudes and culture around risk is something that you can really internalize when you are around other people who give you the correct social proof.
Never lived in the Bay Area, but even when Bay Area people visit or show up in my career orbit, the difference is pretty massive.
Especially when compared to Canadians on risk taking. Bay Area will spend a week to try something. Canadians will take a few months to consider it.
Even observing from afar, it is pretty evident why Canadians tend to lose.
And this blown up to the scale of an entire country is why Canada is suffering so much today. On every metric of measurement they are going down because the ability to take risks is simply missing in the country.
It's also because the many Canadian risk-takers moved to the Bay Area for the concentration of talent and high pay. It's easy to fly down with $50 and an offer letter to work anywhere you want for 3 years (indefinitely renewable) as a software engineer on TN status. Then you can take all the time you need to win the H-1B lottery, or just petition I-485 directly off TN (additional risks apply petitioning directly from nonimmigrant status, this is not immigration advice, ask an attorney, etc).
Not OP but I'm a Canadian who follows the news so I'll pitch in. Canada is suffering a few things right now. Definitely a housing crisis, which seems to be everywhere in the Anglosphere but I'm pretty sure we have it the worst.
So Canadians like to spend too much for housing, live credit and thus don't invest. Why do they do that and does that matter? Well, we do that mainly because house appreciation isn't taxed as income (risk aversion in action) and it does matter because it crowds out investment in things businesses use to make money.
Forthly, I'm sure you're aware that the USA is deeply in debt and that the higher interest rates to combat inflation are pinching the ability of governments to operate. What you may not be aware of is that our Central Bank does whatever the Federal Reserve does in terms of rates about 70% of the time. If they did something different, bond traders would likely be able to destroy our currency. So we are trapped right now, hoping inflation ends real soon.
Lastly, to paraphrase a Mexican saying:Canada is far from God and too close to the United States. Our best and brightest leave to make 30% more in America, where the language and culture is very similar. We have been watching American television our entire lives. We don't have a market of 350 million people to sell to, and out government protected oligopolies are not able to compete in the USA. Our banks are making a push, but that's likely to be regional In America and not national.
Personally, I've also noticed that because there are basically 4 companies to work for in any vertical, and there are fewer tier 1 cities to work in in Canada, middle management here is mostly concerned about avoiding mistakes rather than competing and excellence.
But I don't really know America, it seems like it's a hyper competitive place where you don't get to take your vacation time, and heaven help you if you really need a doctor and you are poor. Every country sucks in its own way.
There is an incredible amount of tacit knowledge in this city that is hard to really internalize until you are actually here and living through it. I think programs like https://www.siltahouse.com/home take a great advantage of these things.
There's a lot of counter intuitive things about early stage that you can't really convey in a blog post, or you may not even believe until you see it yourself up close from people. The open minded attitudes and culture around risk is something that you can really internalize when you are around other people who give you the correct social proof.
Is this all things you can get other places? Sure! It may not matter as much as it did 10 years ago, but you will have a hard time not getting a positive experience out of living, working, or building in the Bay Area.
[1] people have said this since the beginning of time about everything anyways