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Re:Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or ... by yesimahuman on Thursday September 28, 2017 @01:23PM (#15359030)
Yea the adage that you should move to the bay area to start a startup feels increasingly outdated. I couldn't have gone full time on my (now VC-backed startup) back when we were bootstrapping and living on $2k a month from early customer credit card swipes (one of the absolute best feelings in the world) if we had living costs like that in SF/bay area. Once we did find traction and raise we still didn't move. Times are changing.

Plus, doesn't pg say the most important thing is to just stay alive?

Re:Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or ... by pcsanwald on Thursday September 28, 2017 @01:41PM (#15359199)
Did you find it harder to raise VC outside the bay area? We definitely did when we were raising for our Baltimore based company.

Whereas now that I live in the bay area, I see companies get funded all the time and think to myself they would never get funded if they were HQ'd elsewhere.

Re:Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or ... by yesimahuman on Thursday September 28, 2017 @02:26PM (#15359595)
I think it's safe to say that's harder to raise bay area VC if you're not there, though I did do it for our Series A. It's not impossible, and considering "ease of raising VC" isn't the primary variable I optimize for (and doing so seems to be falling out of vogue), I don't think it warrants moving. Some investors just can't get over location, and I think that says more about them than it does you.

At this point I also get a little kick out of doing things differently and trying to change the ecosystem. Isn't that what being a contrarian is all about?

Re:Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or ... by segmondy on Thursday September 28, 2017 @02:10PM (#15359467)
If you don't mind, what's your location?
Re:Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or ... by yesimahuman on Thursday September 28, 2017 @02:27PM (#15359600)
Our primary office is in Madison, WI (recently opened another in Boston)