As a startup founder currently living in NYC, I'm considering a move to SF for the benefit of my company and for the tech community in general. Is SF still the startup mecca as it's always been portrayed? What are some of the pros and cons of both running and growing a startup, as well as living, in San Francisco? How does San Francisco compare to NYC as a city in general?
As someone who made a similar move years ago, the answer is, as always: it depends.
What precisely do you expect to gain from moving? Do you already know people in SF who are well connected and can introduce you to potential investors or partners? Do you have such connections back in NYC?
Supposedly NYC is experience a tech startup renaissance, or, at least, so everyone claims over there. Have you seen evidence of this? Have you participated in it?
If you are just a founder with a laptop, a website and a movile app, but with no revenue, visitors, or users, and you are not really plugged in to the larger tech community around you in NY, then what evidence is there that you would be plugged in to the larger tech community around you in SF?
I started my last business in SF, got acquired by a company in NYC, lived there for two years, and just moved back. I keep meaning to write a blog post about this.
NYC's tech scene wasn't bad, but it really doesn't hold a candle to what you'll find in SF.
Where SF really shines is how hospitable it is to people who are on the margins. There isn't such a wide gulf between "having a job" and "doing a startup." You'll find people all over the entrepreneurial spectrum, and it's so much easier to meet people for some reason. Having technical skills (in addition to whatever other skills you possess) makes you more respectable, not less, as it does in NYC. And everyone is so much chiller.
Stay where you are! Don't come here! My rent's already too high! ;)
Pittsburgh FTW! Voted repeatedly[1] as one of the best places to live and it has an excellent Tech community[2].
Ciao!
[1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1359195/Pittsburgh-b... [1] http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/29/cities-livable-pittsburgh-l... [2] http://www.pghtech.org/ [2] http://pghtechfest.com/
How much do you hate winter?
Why not Boston?
One thing to recognize about San Francisco is that the tech scene is actually spread out across the whole peninsula, not just San Francisco.
While San Francisco has been experiencing a considerable renaissance (my last three companies were HQed in SF), quite a bit of the tech scene is located 30-40 miles South in Santa Clara County.
San Francisco is physically smaller than Manhattan and has about half the population. The rest of the peninsula is pretty suburban. Even in areas of SF that approach Manhattan for density, it is not NYC and it is not trying to be. If you like hyper-competitive people or any hint of pretension, look elsewhere.
That said, yes, SF's startup scene is mecca. Really. The tech density is high enough that you will see tech people literally everywhere, money flows liberally and is well over critical mass for early adopters of technology.
The biggest cons to living here are:
* As a startup, hiring is hard because the best of the best often want to start a company, have started a company or do consulting for startups. I import a lot of people from across the country.
* Microclimates mean going from a t-shirt to a coat with a twenty minute drive.
* Rent is expensive. Maybe not Manhattan expensive, but no less competitive.
* A car are necessary if you live in the peninsula because of how spread out it is.
* You'll be in an environment where there are probably 3+ other startups doing your exact same idea.
Disclosure: I'm from SF.