5 ms·

The valley has a whole has been a letdown. The city is nice but no better than many other cities. South bay is a string of ok small towns with little to no dece

The valley has a whole has been a letdown. The city is nice but no better than many other cities. South bay is a string of ok small towns with little to no decent nightlife. I've met many fine engineers, plenty of talented and smart people no doubt, but to be honest it's not that there aren't equally smart and talented people elsewhere. I consider some of the people I work with to be world class... but not better than other world class people I've had the pleasure to deal with. Many of whom are hungrier for it. More wild west. The valley seems like a middle aged club with lots of sycophant youngsters willing to work themselves to death to get in. Plenty of startups rehashing ideas with the occasional, undervalued imho, gem. I think it's easy to argue that the valley is the center of the universe given the incumbent position of privilege it has. There'll be plenty more money made here and plenty more resulting mutual masturbation. Maybe it was different in past years. But I can't help but feel that the smartest money looking to build long term world-changing companies might be wondering.. and starting to look elsewhere for the next revolution. There'll be a pullback given the recent economic upheavals but the world is a big place. Have you been to greenwich village? Faded glory. The left bank in paris. Like them I don't think the valley is going away. Just succumbing to middleage spread.

jonmc12 17y ago
I guess it depends what you consider important. I moved here recently. I don't disagree with much of what you say - but for me nightlife, social circles, name-dropping, and sycophants are only background elements. What I do think are important are: 1) the very talented people I meet that come to the valley from all over the world both to live and to attend the endless flow of conferences, 2) the entrepreneurs and researchers I meet who are trying to change the world (in those words), and 3) the wide availability of resources (people, funding, advice, etc) for my startup. These things I consider most important have actually exceeded my expectations about the valley.
- throwawayac 17y ago
  There are plenty of what you're saying for sure. I've had the same experience in other places - and also the experience that actually there's far less content than meets the eye. A LOT gets recycled and regurgitated endlessly. If you're not selling anything or trying to get anything then take the time to just sit back and listen. It starts getting surreal. Especially if you have 10 or 15 years of solid tech background and you realize there are far fewer "rock stars" than people think. Particularly the rock stars themselves. That said - I'm really happy for you that you are finding it an exciting experience. Good luck with it! As I said before, I'm sure we'll have many more successful companies coming from here. Hopefully some of them will create lasting value.

jonmc12 17y ago

I guess it depends what you consider important. I moved here recently. I don't disagree with much of what you say - but for me nightlife, social circles, name-dropping, and sycophants are only background elements. What I do think are important are: 1) the very talented people I meet that come to the valley from all over the world both to live and to attend the endless flow of conferences, 2) the entrepreneurs and researchers I meet who are trying to change the world (in those words), and 3) the wide availability of resources (people, funding, advice, etc) for my startup. These things I consider most important have actually exceeded my expectations about the valley.

throwawayac 17y ago
There are plenty of what you're saying for sure. I've had the same experience in other places - and also the experience that actually there's far less content than meets the eye. A LOT gets recycled and regurgitated endlessly. If you're not selling anything or trying to get anything then take the time to just sit back and listen. It starts getting surreal. Especially if you have 10 or 15 years of solid tech background and you realize there are far fewer "rock stars" than people think. Particularly the rock stars themselves. That said - I'm really happy for you that you are finding it an exciting experience. Good luck with it! As I said before, I'm sure we'll have many more successful companies coming from here. Hopefully some of them will create lasting value.