

RTP (Research Triangle Park) Hackers & Founders Meetup - July 2010 - mindcrime
http://www.meetup.com/RTP-Hackers-Founders/calendar/14092458/

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jazzychad
Oh, sure. Have your first meetup after I just lived there for 3 years and then
relocated to SF :)

Seriously though, this is good news. RTP is a great place to live, and the
cost of living is much much lower than out west. RTP is long overdue for a
much needed infusion of startup culture. There are plenty of smart people
living there working for Big Corps (just as I did), but the network and money
for startups just isn't in place quiet yet. I would love to see it thrive
there one day.

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joshhart
I will almost certainly move to RTP within 3-5 years. My fiancee is from
Burlington and she's extremely close to her family, so I can only keep her in
SF for so long :) I'd like the move too since I'm also from the South.

For those of you that are employed in the area, what are the job options
besides RedHat? I enjoyed the challenges at the YC startup I was at previously
and I'm really enjoying working at LinkedIn now. While the move is very far
away for me, I'm worried about a possible lack of interesting positions and a
smaller talent pool to run my own startup.

Thanks for any advice!

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mindcrime

      While the move is very far away for me, I'm worried about 
      a possible lack of interesting positions and a smaller 
      talent pool to run my own startup.
    

I can't compare with the Bay Area, since I've never lived there, but this area
is known for having a lot of smart, talented, well educated people. The whole
concept behind this area being known as "The Triangle" was based on the
presence of 3 research universities (UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke and NC State)
forming a triangular shaped area. In addition to the big three, there are
several smaller colleges in the immediate area: Meredith, Peace, St.
Augustine's, NC Central, Durham Tech, Wake Tech, and Campbell jump to mind.
With the presence of IBM, SAS, Red Hat, Cisco, and others, there is a constant
influx of tech savvy people from other areas of the country. In particular,
this area seems to pull a lot of people from Northern climates (Pennsylvania
seems to send a lot of folks here) maybe because of the weather?

Anyway, just to illustrate a point about the Triangle... Cary (smaller city on
the outskirts of Raleigh) is reported to have - IIRC - the highest
concentration of Phd holders (per capita) of any city in the United States.
Now it's not necessarily the case that Phd == talent, but the point is that
people here are smart and well educated in general. Forgot any stereotypes
about "Southerners," the Triangle is it's own little nice with different
demographics from the more rural areas. (Not that there aren't plenty of
smart, well educated people in the rest of NC as well, mind you).

If anything, the problem we have here is how to _keep_ the smart kids who
graduate from Duke, UNC, NCSU, etc, in the area. Since this area doesn't - yet
- have the reputation for being a startup hub, it seems that people come here,
go to school, and then start thinking about moving _to_ San Fran or somewhere
"sexy." There are a number of us here who want to change the culture here so
that people think more in terms of founding (or joining) startups here. F%@*
California, you guys have Stanford and Berkeley, etc. to feed you talent! :-)

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brandonkm
I understand where you're coming from in regards to kids who graduate leaving.
On the other hand, theres a ton of people in their 20's flocking to areas all
over the triangle. The glenwood south area of Raleigh, Chapel Hill/Carrboro,
and some parts of Durham come to mind.

It seems to me that whenever I visit Raleigh its growing so much that the
people who graduate leaving doesn't seem to be that much of an issue. I think
what the triangle area needs (and has needed for a _long_ time) is critical
mass that makes it an established place in peoples mind of a startup hub.
Theres lots of great tech companies and startups, but there could be a lot
more :-).

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RobbieStats
I look forward to this meetup and meeting any hackers that are interested in
sports.

I'm the founder of StatSheet (<http://statsheet.com>), a newly VC-backed
startup in RTP. It is possible to raise money in the Southeast, but it is
definitely more challenging than Silly Valley/Boston/NYC.

There is a growing influx of new startups in RTP, especially in the American
Tobacco District (LaunchBox and Joystick Labs just launched there).

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mbergins
I'm interested in the statistics of sports, especially quantifying and pricing
performance. I'll probably make it to the meetup.

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tzm
Btw, Chapel Hill is ranked on Money Magazine's Best Places to Live list.
<http://bit.ly/bkgwga>

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zaidf
It is:)

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iends
Would love to attend, but will be out of town that Friday. :(

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mindcrime
No worries. The goal is to make it a weekly thing, so there will be plenty of
future opportunities. :-)

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mdwrigh2
Sounds perfect. I've always wondered how big of a startup scene is in the
area, and I'd love to meet some of the people in the area with similar
interests.

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kacy
Here is a list of some of the tech startups in the area. I think they're still
trying compile the list. I know there are a few that aren't on there.

<http://www.downtowndurhamstartups.com/>

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zaidf
Will be there!

