<story><title>NYC tech catching up to Silicon Valley, while Seattle flails</title><url>https://medium.com/@sandimac/nyc-tech-catching-up-to-silicon-valley-while-seattle-flails-here-s-why-97ba7147b5f6#.e84c892cd</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>cavisne</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s weird the article conflates &amp;quot;tech&amp;quot; with startups.&lt;p&gt;Within the next few years Facebook, Google will have huge headquarters (currently under construction or planning) right next to Amazon&amp;#x27;s collection of buildings in Seattle, and Microsoft near by.&lt;p&gt;I think the issue startups have in Seattle is they expect to pay less than in SV, because cost of living is cheaper. However with some negotiation the Big 4 will pay you the same as in SV, while paying a quarter of SV rent for a nice apartment with a walking commute.&lt;p&gt;I guess that lingering smell of urine keeps people coming back to SF?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>fffernan</author><text>Yeah what is a tech company?  I here people in Bay Area saying they work in tech all time time.  Uber is a transportation company not a technology company.  If Uber is a tech company then American Airlines is a tech company too.  Both have an app which will let you get on some form of transportation and get one place to another.  Boston Dynamics is a technology company for example.  They build robots for the sake of building robots and hoping to sell the technology.</text></comment>
<story><title>NYC tech catching up to Silicon Valley, while Seattle flails</title><url>https://medium.com/@sandimac/nyc-tech-catching-up-to-silicon-valley-while-seattle-flails-here-s-why-97ba7147b5f6#.e84c892cd</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>cavisne</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s weird the article conflates &amp;quot;tech&amp;quot; with startups.&lt;p&gt;Within the next few years Facebook, Google will have huge headquarters (currently under construction or planning) right next to Amazon&amp;#x27;s collection of buildings in Seattle, and Microsoft near by.&lt;p&gt;I think the issue startups have in Seattle is they expect to pay less than in SV, because cost of living is cheaper. However with some negotiation the Big 4 will pay you the same as in SV, while paying a quarter of SV rent for a nice apartment with a walking commute.&lt;p&gt;I guess that lingering smell of urine keeps people coming back to SF?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>rconti</author><text>I&amp;#x27;d buy &amp;quot;quarter of SV rent for a nice apartment&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;a quarter of SV rent for an apartment with a walking commute&amp;quot; but I can&amp;#x27;t see the walking+1&amp;#x2F;4+nice all together. But that&amp;#x27;s splitting hairs, I assume.&lt;p&gt;Having grown up in Seattle and now working SV, I think the issue is the combination of being too close to SV, and not having the funding.&lt;p&gt;Obviously NYC has all the money you could need for a startup scene. Whether enough of it is being sent to startups can be argued, but the money is there. That, and it&amp;#x27;s a massive city near other massive population centers, and nowhere near the Valley. I think proximity to one big &amp;quot;scene&amp;quot; can hurt others.</text></comment>