In Defense of the Midwest

Re:In Defense of the Midwest by lkrubner on Monday March 09, 2015 @12:12AM (#9169014)

Your view of this is exactly backwards. To get an accurate view of what is happening, start with the assumption that all computer programming can be done remotely, from China or India. Now ask yourself, what kind of computer programming can not be done remotely? The kind that needs constant face-to-face contact, especially to maintain the relationship links between investors and engineers via a CEO. Those jobs need to be in New York or San Francisco.

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Re:In Defense of the Midwest by wwweston on Monday March 09, 2015 @12:51AM (#9169166)

> start with the assumption that all computer programming can be done remotely, from China or India. Now ask yourself, what kind of computer programming can not be done remotely?

Just about any kind of software development can be done remotely, really. It's really a function of the skills possessed by everyone involved in a distributed team vs the obstacles distribution may or may not present (and there's different degrees of remoteness -- same city, same time zone, same country, same hemisphere all present different challenges)

> specially to maintain the relationship links between investors and engineers via a CEO. Those jobs need to be in New York or San Francisco.

Unless the CEO doesn't (or your customers don't) live in SF and NY.

I suppose the next line is "well, the investors aren't going to want to visit flyover country." It turns out -- strangely enough -- there are even investors who don't live in SF and NY, though sometimes they strangely don't all want to invest in a slick social deals pyramid or revenue-free chat app or whatever else is hot at the moment...

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Re:In Defense of the Midwest by lkrubner on Monday March 09, 2015 @02:24PM (#9172723)

You have defined the problem out of existence. Is that what you meant to do? If the middle of the country is full of great investors and great programmers and great customers and great CEOs then why are we even having this conversation? Why would anyone feel the need to write an essay like the one above? Why does the MidWest need defending? According to you, everything is already perfect.

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Re:In Defense of the Midwest by jessedhillon on Monday March 09, 2015 @04:05AM (#9169796)

...though sometimes they strangely don't all want to invest in a slick social deals pyramid or revenue-free chat app or whatever else is hot at the moment...

You can't argue with returns, and "slick" VC returns trump Smallville's every day of the week.

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Re:In Defense of the Midwest by wwweston on Monday March 09, 2015 @05:39AM (#9170027)

One "smallville" startup I worked for turned about $2M in investment into a $60M sale.

How'd Groupon's investors make out on their returns?

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Re:In Defense of the Midwest by lmm on Monday March 09, 2015 @07:09AM (#9170282)

Anecdote != data. Look at the overall stats.

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Re:In Defense of the Midwest by falcolas on Monday March 09, 2015 @08:55AM (#9170596)

Self re-enforcing loop. The investors are in SF/NY because the startups are in SF/NY, because the investors are in SF/NY...

There are plenty of VC funded startups which aren't in SF or NY, and they will have slower burn rates than those who are in SF and NY, simply due to the cost of living.

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Re:In Defense of the Midwest by cylinder on Monday March 09, 2015 @11:44AM (#9171524)

I don't understand why people on here seem to believe startups are just a bunch of programmers in a room somewhere. They are a business, and sales is of utmost importance in business. You want to be as close as possible to your current and potential clients.

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Re:In Defense of the Midwest by lmm on Monday March 09, 2015 @10:01AM (#9170933)

The investors are in SF/NY because they can make more money there.

I agree that it's probably a network effect rather than anything fundamental about SF/NY. But really, so what? Yes, if all the startups were in Cleveland then it would be smart to go to Cleveland. But they're not.

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