Am I sure I want to be in San Francisco?
April 22nd, 2008
cata-wha?
Well timed with the irrational and echo-tastic exuberance surrounding the Web 2.0 Expo, 37 Signals issues a dig at the the SF and Sillicon Valley start-up environment. Defintely worth the quick read, and plenty of good chatter in the comments.
I love the quintessentially midwestern take (via Denmark, I assume) on the goofiness and downright non-pragmatic approach to business in SF and the Valley, but there is an aspect the author overlooked : What if there is no place else for you, the web-obsessed designer/developer to go?
Let’s say you have tried, failed, knocked on doors, written business plans, searched for investors and mentors, and put up with professional bull-shitters and fence-sitters for hours on end - and still come up empty?
You pack your bags and move to San Francisco.
I’ve been tracking 37 Signals for years. (I recall learning a great deal of css techniques from them, wayyy back in 2001/2002). I have always admired their success in building a set of great products, and having a no-bullshit vision and philospohy backing up their products (and business). And closer to my hometown, I am amazed at the successes of my friends from Saddle-Creek Records, and more recently The Slowdown. Record label, rock club, movie theater, real estate. Wow.
In all cases, I have no underestimation of the late nights and hard work required to attain success. But, at the same time, there seem to be intangable ingredients which tip what you are doing into reall opportunities. And at that point, the opportunity is what you make it.
What is that intangible? A certain threshold of like-minds in your community? Or, maybe it’s as simple as having a legitimately good idea/product/service.
In any case, if you are stuck, you occasionally need to get un-stuck. And if you work on the Web, and are looking to un-stick yourself, you may very well find yourself landing somewhere in or near SF.
Personaly, I think the community of like-minded, enthusiatic technologists, hackers, and nerds far outweighs the VC valuation-speak of the start-up world. Or, maybe I’m just running with a different crowd.
Anyway… don’t forget - when you peel yourself off whatever you are stuck to, sometimes, it hurts!
Sometimes I seriously ponder living elsewhere. When I think about the US, nothing comes to mind other than SF. Sure, I might consider New York for a heartbeat, but then I remember all the time I’ve spent there and realize it’s just not the place for me.
Then I think of cities in Europe and how much I enjoyed my time there. I could totally live in Paris. But then reality comes crashing back to me: the web, it seems to me, is in one place - SF. How can I do what I do and do it elsewhere?
I wonder how much of this is true. Maybe the first generation of the web is here. Maybe even the second, if that’s what we’re on now. But how long before we’re a Flint Michigan? How long before anyone anywhere can do just as good a job as we can here?
Increasingly, building a web app or content destination takes less and less capital and time. My own startup is a testament to that. How long before it just doesn’t matter where you are, where you can can just build what you want and see if it works and who needs the valley, SF and it’s tech crowds arguing away on twitter, and the fog?