Re:Ask HN: Any tips for living cheaply in SF?
by mannicken on Sunday May 03, 2009 @01:20PM
(#591018)
http://www.paulgraham.com/startuphubs.html
This, and "I-really-want-to-try-to-live-Cali-and-get-out-of-my-parents'-bedroom" reason. I think this is enough to spend $3000.
Basically, I'm making myself a little YC experience :)
From what I gather, the 'YC Experience' includes easy access to lots of people, a big network of founders, pg & company's advice, and a lot of other stuff - that's why so many people are keen to get in. I honestly don't know how much of that you can recreate on your own in a short period of time, but my guess is 'not too much'.
One thing might be to consider a shorter trip down there to see if you can connect with some people in the course of a couple weeks, scout out places to live, and so on, and then do a more permanent move at a later date.
BTW, Berkeley might be a better option in some ways - with students leaving for the summer, maybe you could swing some cheaper housing there. It's not a bad place, either.
That's reasonable, just be sure to seek out the same sort of peer group, learning curriculum, and maniacal focus on execution-while-living-cheaply. (Startupness is not just acquired by osmosis once in the silicon valley air.) And remember too YC's biases against single-founder startups and doing other things (like contracting) simultaneously... I believe those are a key part of their formula, which helps offset what could otherwise derail young startupper migrants to the bay area.
But that's not quite the same dream as "reach ramen profitability on my web project". In fact, the two dreams may conflict. Moving to and learning a new area takes a bunch of time and money, and the bay area (especially SF proper) is expensive -- compared to Seattle or living with family.
For a young techie, the biggest benefit I could imagine being in the bay area versus Seattle is a larger job market and scene of potential collaborators. But are those what you need to make your project ramen-profitable -- or do those opportunities represent other paths entirely?