Comments for AustinStartup » AustinStartup

Comment on Why I Chose Austin – More Recently by austen

austen — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:11:58 +0000

Great post Ben, looking forward to interviewing you for We Are Austin Tech and hearing the expanded version!

Comment on Why I Chose Austin – More Recently by Joshua Baer

Joshua Baer — Thu, 24 May 2012 04:49:32 +0000

Great post Ben! I’m so glad you’re here.

Who’s next? I hope we see more posts from other entrepreneurs. Why do YOU choose Austin?

Comment on Why I Chose Austin – More Recently by Ben

Ben — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:08:01 +0000

When you mention that you have no trouble getting an intro in Austin, it reminds of the way Austin musicians describe this town. They’ll say that in other places, they feel like the music community is in competition with itself, but in Austin, the community members help each other. I think the Austin tech community is also quite open and helpful (the vibe at events like the Tech Happy Hour demonstrate this).

Also, thank you for bringing college football in to the discussion. On a similar note, central Texas also has the world’s finest smoked brisket.

Comment on I Choose Austin by Austen

Austen — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:56:59 +0000

I think something else that hasn’t been touched on very much in the comments is the cultural difference between the startup climate in Silicon Valley vs. Austin. The trade-off is around competition v. collaboration as an avenue for innovation. Austin startup founders are much more likely to collaborate; which accelerates the velocity of the startup ecosystem in Austin. Competition as a cultural part of entrepreneurship in California makes that ecosystem much more difficult to enter. Please don’t misunderstand, I’m all for capitalism and free markets. I’m specifically referring to entrepreneurs being open with ideas, information and resources. Beyond that, some Austin entrepreneurs are enthusiastic about sharing these things. The old cloak and dagger model of shrouding every idea behind a wall of ND agreements is clunky and slow. If your idea is good enough, and you are good enough, it will only benefit from the collaborative environment in Austin. This encourages rapid iteration and peer review which serves to sharpen the great ideas and accelerate their velocity.

Comment on I Choose Austin by Scott Francis

Scott Francis — Wed, 23 May 2012 06:23:10 +0000

Laura, I thought one thing that is really a shame is that the four people can’t imagine any valid reason why someone would do their startup in Austin. There’s not much point arguing with someone that committed to their decision (and if there is one type of person I know who commits to a decision it is the entrepreneur).

That speaks to a lack of perspective on their part, rather than a failure of Austin’s startup community. Most of the folks I know who have moved (in either direction) have a pretty balanced view of the tradeoffs.

Comment on I Choose Austin by Larry

Larry — Wed, 23 May 2012 03:09:02 +0000

I recently returned from an info gathering trip in N. CA where I met with a number of VC’s and repeat entrepreneurs. There was a common theme…all believed that CA is the best place in the US to start a tech based business. No real surprise there, however, they ALL indicated that TX was a much better place for their businesses once they are in the market with revenue. CA is NOT a desirable place to have a growth stage or mature company and as cited by others on this post, companies and employees are leaving CA in ever increasing numbers for that and other reasons. The trend is expected to continue. Those of us working for and with start-ups here in TX have the opportunity and the responsibility to leverage our geographic and economic advantage to catalyze the entrepreneurial ecosystem and promote our start up successes beyond Texas. Over time, we will have more successes, retain more entrepreneurs, and attract more capital. As Mario Andretti once said “victory is a matter of staying power”.

Comment on Why I Chose Austin – More Recently by Ben Kuo

Ben Kuo — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:46:59 +0000

Ben, Bryan, excellent follow up article to Josh’s. Glad to see you guys out there explaining the Austin value proposition – love to see more of these! You guys don’t get enough credit…

Comment on I Choose Austin by Scott

Scott — Tue, 22 May 2012 04:47:09 +0000

Having been in the “I Choose Austin” camp since 1994, I’m in full agreement with Josh. Look, everything you do in life has tradeoffs. I left Stanford for Austin in ’94 and have had amazing experiences here – at first at work. But over time, the “great experiences” encompassed my neighborhood, my friends, the music scene, ultimate frisbee… And I likely missed out on any dot-com IPOs as a result. But Austin is home, now.

In every community you have people who put down roots and invest in the community. And you have people who float to wherever the jobs are, or wherever the gold (or gold rush) seems to be. For whatever reason, Josh and his family chose to make Austin home – and he didn’t do it halfway- and Austin startups are better for it. Our family made a similar choice- there was a time when we could have gone anywhere – and we elected to stay in Austin. The “Anon” commenters always are the ones taking shots, and missing the big picture – it isn’t just about where Austin is at this moment in time – it is about the story arc of Austin – things are on the upswing, and have been for a long time – but not in a crazy bubble way, in what feels like a more sustainable way (time will tell). Austin isn’t for everyone, but for those of us that choose Austin, it is a fantastic place to start (and grow) a business.

I’ve been enjoying being a small part of building something new in Austin. I’m in.

Comment on I Choose Austin by Laura Beck

Laura Beck — Tue, 22 May 2012 02:41:40 +0000

Nicely done. I’ve been pondering my response and thoughts to the panel since Fri. The room seemed collectively quiet, absorbing what the guys said. Later, some were angry and defensive. But I was so impressed and appreciative of Tom, James and Matt being so candid, so honest. And I think you put it well, Josh. For them, Silicon Valley is the best place, their best choice. For you, for me and loads of others, its Austin. Being happy where you are is a great thing for all.

Comment on I Choose Austin by Paul O'Brien

Paul O'Brien — Tue, 22 May 2012 01:46:39 +0000

Anyone thinking it’s easy to get people to move to California should give this a read; one of the most non-startup-y articles about the challenges of California I’ve read in a long time and brilliant perspective on the future of Silicon Valley: http://www.forbes.com/sites/timothylee/2012/05/10/why-the-bay-area-should-have-11-million-residents-today/

Back that story up with the top Silicon Valley trend of 2012, poaching (see: http://blog.jmhamiltonpublishing.com/2012/04/14/in-a-highly-competitive-recruiting-climate-its-not-uncommon-for-even-facebook-to-encounter-top-design-talent-playing-hard-to-get-.aspx or AngelList’s latest hackathon http://news.cnet.com/8301-32973_3-57430375-296/at-angellist-hackathon-demand-is-for-talent-poaching-tools/) and you may find yourself second-guessing the Bay Area. “More” top talent is relative and that fact is meaningless if you can neither attract, retain, or afford them.