‘Where ambition goes to die’: These tech workers flocked to Austin during the pandemic. Now they’re desperate to get out.::Drawn by the promise of an emerging tech hub, some tech workers who flocked to Austin found a middling tech scene, subpar culture, and scorching heat.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
During the pandemic, Austin became a hot spot for remote workers and coastal tech employees who were in search of more space, favorable tax laws, and a lower cost of living.
Once you peel back the boldface names who moved to the city and the corporate announcements about flashy new headquarters, the reality of day-to-day living and working in Austin’s tech scene leaves a lot to be desired, according to those Insider spoke with.
“If I was a 22-year-old founder starting something I’d go to Silicon Valley because it’s going to increase your odds of success,” Gurley said, adding that it is easy for people to get distracted in Austin because they might be having too much fun and not focusing on building their businesses.
He listed off a few of his displeasures with Austin, including a bad public-transportation system that led to awful traffic, subpar museums, and general overcrowding that makes it hard for any spontaneous activities — they must be booked far in advance, he said.
Sheharyar Bokhari, a senior economist with Redfin, previously told Insider that Austin is experiencing whiplash after several years of robust buyer demand and price growth.
Stuck in Austin until interest rates or coastal housing prices fall, Chang has spent the summer scrolling through Instagram, envying the friends he left behind in California.
The original article contains 1,672 words, the summary contains 220 words. Saved 87%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Actual headline: “One guy regrets moving to Austin.”
Journalism I guess. Would you say that he ‘slammed’ Austin?
There’s good journalism out there. None of it is published in Business Insider though. Not sure why we’re posting these kinds of links on Lemmy
It is like a desperate journalist who sees one comment on Twitter and reports “People say ____”
Doesn’t like Austin because it’s too fun? Sorry but poor excuse to not like a cool city. Very few activities need a reservation or to plan ahead.
Does being in Silicon Valley actually increase a startup founders chance for success? Start a fully remote company.
I assume being in Silicon Valley means you are around other tech startups and people in the tech industry. Half of being a startup is getting industry connections and getting your name in the paper.
Silicon Valley is where all the VCs are. They make a lot of their funding decisions based on whether they like hanging around with a founder or not. You’re more likely to get money out of them if you’re fun to drink beers with than if you have a great business plan.
A friend of mine in that area gets a ton of networking done in person, visiting mixers held by Google and Meta, etc. It hasn’t worked for her mostly because she’s… kinda bad at good ideas, but damn she’s good at getting free tech interns and knowing a guy who knows a guy with endless wealth who will at least hear your pitch deck.
I’d say that would tip the scales for a tech startup over a remote one, although location alone isn’t going to earn you those tech innovation bucks.
From the article:
No fun allowed.
This is just ridiculous. One guy doesn’t like Austin, so it’s a terrible place? As someone who has lived in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona, and Texas, I can tell you I’ve liked Texas the best, and I much prefer Austin and Dallas to pretty much any other city I’ve been to.