

Ask HN: Where would you rather start a company Boulder or Boston? - bcx

Hi guys,  let's think of a hypothetical situation.  If you were given some money, and could choose between Boulder or Boston as the initial location for the company, which would you choose and why?
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smoody
Boston has an overabundance of great schools pumping out well-educated CS
majors vs a single college in Boulder, and, I believe that if you're started a
web company, there's probably a bigger pool of talent in the Boston area to
choose from if you want to grow big fast (but that's just a guess).

But, if you're planning to stay small for a while and grow slowly, Boulder is
difficult to beat. Some reasons:

\- I know some of the major players in the Boulder investment community and
they are great people down to the core.

\- Boulder is a lot closer to California than Boston. The flights are a bit
cheaper, there's only one time zone change and, assuming they keep schedule,
the trip won't take a whole day. This can, in some circumstances, make a
measurable difference.

\- The weather in Boulder is amazing. No humidity, sunny 300+ days a year, and
you'll have days in the winter when it's in the 70s (and other days where the
snow piles up fast). But the summers are something else -- the weather, the
scenic beauty, etc. is some of the best in the country if you're into
sunshine, breathtaking hikes, and world-class skiing. Sure, you can't take
advantage of it every day, but if you do have a day off, you can drive an hour
or less from Boulder and reach trails that will take you to views like this
one, hike back, and be back home (or back at the office) in time for an
afternoon snack: <http://10101010.net/hikeview2.jpg> \-- apologies for the
slow load. Its a large image (you might have to click to see it full size) and
it's hosted on Dreamhost. Need I say more? :-)

(I took that photo myself. It's a view from the Forth of July Trail. I believe
we left Boulder at around 7:30am and were back by 2:30 or so).

I've worked for startups in Boston and was an entrepreneur-in-residence in
Boulder. I would personally pick Boulder if those were my two options.

I guess there's no wrong answer and it's more about personal preference than
anything else. My only gripe about Boulder is that it trails behind Boston and
other larger cities from a diversity perspective, but so does our industry to
some degree no matter where you go.

~~~
kleevr
Well put smoody. I've been trying to decide where I wanted to go next (boston
and boulder among them), and my choice just crystallized. Thanks.

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rms
Boston has the better startup/investment community but there is something more
appealing to me about the aesthetic and the skiing in Boulder.

~~~
bcx
I wonder if there are any Aspen VCs / Angel investors.

