Am I the only person who reads articles like these and gets the suspicion that this is less about how great Austin is (and it is a great city with some top-notch hackers living there), but basically a thinly veiled advertising opportunity for a software company that is trying to link its success to a larger (and largely disconnected) issue?
I'm not even sure who the audience of this is. Investors? I doubt any savvy VB-reading investors are unaware that there are great technology companies in Austin, New York, Portland, Chicago, and many other cities. In fact, the author appears a little out of the loop by talking about "The Valley" when businesses have been heading north to the Peninsula for years now.
It isn't all that thinly veiled is it? Its a recruiting pitch, the message is: 'cost of living is lower', 'opportunities are plentiful', 'traffic is better', and 'there is hip culture here too'. It is targeted at folks who are working in the Bay area and hate the commute and high cost of living but feel trapped because it is the 'place to be.' The goal being to get those people to consider working outside the Bay Area.
The bottom line is that there are lots of places to work, they aren't all like the Bay Area but they don't have to be.
Austin dweller here -- I assure you the traffic is NOT better here. Ranked 8th worst in the nation.
> If you are not aligned with one of the fashionable templates, your mojo in the Valley can quickly whither.
I observed this at SXSW last year. It was Elevator Pitch Bingo, with every presentation being some combination of Social, Mobile, Coupon, Local, and "your friends". Very few of the pitches strayed outside that subset.
I've never gotten past the first red light out of Bergstrom without a 4 minute wait at 1am. I could go all the way from SFO to Ocean Beach without hitting a light 50% of the time.
SF applies computers and algorithms. Silicon Hills hasn't discovered them yet.
Honestly every time I see one of these it seems like another shot at a straw man thats been worked over like a cheap piñata.
For a lot of folks, applications and startups the valley has advantages, but likely for a far larger amount it really doesn't matter as much. But really anyone who's making a blanket statement for or against the valley is just talking out of their ass.
Comments
Am I the only person who reads articles like these and gets the suspicion that this is less about how great Austin is (and it is a great city with some top-notch hackers living there), but basically a thinly veiled advertising opportunity for a software company that is trying to link its success to a larger (and largely disconnected) issue?
I'm not even sure who the audience of this is. Investors? I doubt any savvy VB-reading investors are unaware that there are great technology companies in Austin, New York, Portland, Chicago, and many other cities. In fact, the author appears a little out of the loop by talking about "The Valley" when businesses have been heading north to the Peninsula for years now.
It isn't all that thinly veiled is it? Its a recruiting pitch, the message is: 'cost of living is lower', 'opportunities are plentiful', 'traffic is better', and 'there is hip culture here too'. It is targeted at folks who are working in the Bay area and hate the commute and high cost of living but feel trapped because it is the 'place to be.' The goal being to get those people to consider working outside the Bay Area.
The bottom line is that there are lots of places to work, they aren't all like the Bay Area but they don't have to be.
Austin dweller here -- I assure you the traffic is NOT better here. Ranked 8th worst in the nation.
> If you are not aligned with one of the fashionable templates, your mojo in the Valley can quickly whither.
I observed this at SXSW last year. It was Elevator Pitch Bingo, with every presentation being some combination of Social, Mobile, Coupon, Local, and "your friends". Very few of the pitches strayed outside that subset.
Austin resident from Atlanta who has lived in San Francisco.
Yes it it is.
In Austin if there is a jam you can go a few blocks over and avoid it.
In SF or Atlanta alot of times you're fucked because this is the only road that goes where you want :/
On the other hand, in SF you can commute by bike. I'm told that's not viable in Austin.
If you live and work downtown or near UT's campus it is.
If not then you are quite right its not.
i live 2 mi west of ut/downtown, and i disagree. i gave up cycling when i moved here from the Valley. :/
"Austin dweller here -- I assure you the traffic is NOT better here. Ranked 8th worst in the nation."
FWIW, San Francisco is ranked #3.
For bridgers and tunnelers, not natives.
I've never gotten past the first red light out of Bergstrom without a 4 minute wait at 1am. I could go all the way from SFO to Ocean Beach without hitting a light 50% of the time.
SF applies computers and algorithms. Silicon Hills hasn't discovered them yet.
Honestly every time I see one of these it seems like another shot at a straw man thats been worked over like a cheap piñata.
For a lot of folks, applications and startups the valley has advantages, but likely for a far larger amount it really doesn't matter as much. But really anyone who's making a blanket statement for or against the valley is just talking out of their ass.
It's not thinly veiled, it's completely unveiled. These guest posts are just another type of marketing channel for companies.