Perhaps we should have an Indy HN meetup sometime. In what part of Indy are you (you being anyone in Indy reading this) located?
If you like Ruby, there is a monthly Ruby group meeting at the downtown library (which is pretty awesome, in my opinion). Search meetup.com for Ruby and Indianapolis.
Complaining is useless. Maybe we can improve the city's startup scene ourselves, huh? Who else is going to do it?
Edit: To clarify: the library is awesome. I've only been to last month's Ruby meeting, so far. I get the feeling many of these sorts of groups are in their infancy. The Ruby group is sponsored by DealerFlow (http://dealerflow.com/), which is a startup of sorts. The Indianapolis Star (newspaper) employs some Ruby hackers (Indy.com is currently Rails, for now). I work at a data center (ChaCha is a customer) writing our custom intranet apps using Ruby/Rails. There are bright spots in Indy, you just have to dig.
In terms of available jobs, it is a bit frustrating. I know the Dealer Flow guys are currently looking for new talent - they're doing some cool stuff w/ Erlang (ejabberd, primarily I believe) and Ruby/Rails. There's a place in town called Sagebit (sagebit.com), which is smaller and does a mix of their own products + consultancy work. I don't know if they're looking, but they're good people to meet regardless. (Ruby/Rails/Merb, btw.) I know there's also some startup stuff going on down in Bloomington, which is (of course, entirely by my own opinion) a bit more likely of a town to make good computer sci. contacts in the greater world, what with your proximity to IUB. I only say that to guess, however.
Additionally, there's a Python meetup group in town, a bit smaller than the Ruby group. They've been regularly meeting at Broadripple Brewpub, and are primarily pushed by Six Feet Up, a company that's pretty active in the Zope/Plone/Python world. SFU is mostly consultant based, not really a startup, but they're good people to meet if you're more into that sorta thing.
AFA an HN meetup in Indy, I'd give a +1 to that.
The entrepreneurial community has been growing in the last few years and I believe the local angel investors and VC's are open to ideas revolving around the internet and technology. I have been to a few events put on by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and both had contests for the best startup pitch/idea. Both were run by small startups (a website and a database technology company).
Indy isn't for everyone. I say go where you have to to get what you want.
I know at least 2-3 people which might come to either/both depending on timing/schedules.
Anyone have a good idea for organizing this? Not to re-invent the 'meetup.com' wheel, but perhaps we could create a mini "HN Fans Meetup" web app, that would benefit not only people in Indy but also any other state that isnt CA or MA..
Edit: I live near Broad Ripple, so pretty much anywhere that isnt Greenwood or Westfield is game. Even then, I'll probably come. :)
Brian
BTW, I live in Carmel and telecommute to San-Fran.
1 - IU Bloomington (not far) was ranked the #1 Public University (#2 Overall) for Entrepreneurship in the country. There are lots of people down there that are trying neat things and are willing to help startups.
2 - The cost of starting a startup here is retarded low. I can get full office space with utilities included for <$500/mo for a small slace or <$1000 for a medium/large space. You wont find that anywhere. Employment costs are lower, living expenses, training costs, infrastructure costs, etc -- all lower.
Still, it wont help you that much since there are very few people in the midwest with startup mentality. And finding '1st' customers here is a real pain. I had my last startup here and we had the biggest problem convincing someone to even spend 3 minutes to try something new. There is a conservatism at work that shuns new things until they are 'proven'. Most successful software/startup companies in the midwest still find their first customers on the coasts.
The rent I'm talking about for Indy is downtown (not that it matters in indy). If I went to the Indy Suburbs, I could probably get it cheaper... Almost free probably for trade of some sort.
But driving in Chicago is a real pain, and I wouldnt want to live in the suburbs and/or have to commute there.
Joel Spolsky wrote an article on finding office space:
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/OfficeNewYork.html
If you're running up against really expensive space, you may be falling into the trap of trying to buy "class A" space, or space that's jacked up because of "amenities" you don't care about.
Funny that you should mention ChaCha because when I got here the most intriguing opportunities I could find were with Scott Jones' companies (founder of ChaCha). I recently started working for SAJE and GalaxiaLighting.com, two of his newer companies, but am holding my judgment until I am there a little longer. I have a feeling I may be on my way out of here when my lease runs up next summer unless something changes. Scott is a serial entrepreneur who is trying to bring the spirit to Indiana through his companies and foundations but progress seems to be slow.
I also love the quality of life out here and live frugally, much cheaper than in Boston.
I would not walk, RUN, here from Indy. If you do, there's also a very solid group of Duke Tech entrepreneurs out here that meet regularly.
This is a good point. I'm leaving Indy at some point -- but it is very hard to move from Indy (low cost of living) to SFC or any coast (high cost of living). Especially considering the (current) lack of jobs coming on the market these days.
Given the market, I think the good plan is to either Move there if you know someone to crash with and try to find a job, but if you dont, try to do your own thing and build some resume credibility (read create some web apps or commit some code to something notable) and try again in 6 months.
My cost of living per month is about $2k. It's what you make it. I would try to save up $2k-4k and make the move. If you can't make it happen in 1 or 2 months, make sure you have enough to get a plane ride home.
Either way, good luck.
When compared to the Ruby conferences I've priced, that seems dirt cheap.
There are lots of companies that call themselves startups around here, perhaps 10% truly are. The most notable one in all the media is ChaCha, and its a fucking joke if you ask me.
There are good developers/hackers around here, but its not the same as the west coast.
Either way, welcome to Indy... It can be an OK city if you like Insurance, Transportation, Conventions and Basketball. :p