

Foursquare's Big Round: A Sign of Things to Come for NYC - besvinick
http://ventureminded.me/post/6902073170/foursquares-big-round-a-sign-of-things-to-come

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rayiner
I don't get the whole idea of NYC being a startup hub. Sure there is capital
here, but the nearest decent engineering school is in Boston and there is not
a top-notch state engineering school in the entire northeast. How are you
going to have a tech mecca without a read supply of talent? It's easy to wire
money to other cities; not so easy to get top talent to relocate to the most
expensive city in the country.

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gfodor
Actually Cornell is ~4 hours away and is making a push to open a 'tech campus'
in NYC proper:

[http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/March11/NYCTechCampus.ht...](http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/March11/NYCTechCampus.html)

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rayiner
True. I keep forgetting Cornell exists.

The lack of good public schools is still an issue I think. The major tech
corridors (bay area, research triangle, seattle/portland, northern VA) are all
close to top-notch state engineering schools. I worked at a startup in
northern Virginia and definitely noticed that having Virginia Tech right there
was a great benefit as we grew. I think that's a huge weak-spot for NYC.

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leahculver
Foursquare also just opened a San Francisco office in order to be able to hire
more technical talent. So, meh.

[http://thenextweb.com/location/2010/11/22/foursquare-to-
open...](http://thenextweb.com/location/2010/11/22/foursquare-to-open-san-
francisco-office-hire-engineers/)

~~~
endtime
Yes, there's a shortage of engineers in NYC, but that's largely because of
high demand. Google and banks and startups are all struggling to hire.

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gordonc
If Foursquare is a sign of things to come for NYC, I need to get the fuck out
of here asap.

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molecularbutter
LOL

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rglover
I don't really see the motivation begin dethroning SF as the go-to place for
startups. NYC is great, a city I personally love, but why can't it co-exist
alongside SF? There SHOULD be two great places for startups, not just one.
What will make the difference, though, is what types of startups flock to
which city and why. No need to start a war, work together and the end result
will be a tech industry that will be hard to stop.

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dr_
Really? And did Googles 3 billion acquisition of double-click kickstart the
momentum that led to foursquares funding?

Me thinks not. The fact that foursquare, which makes no significant revenue,
is now valued at 600 million dollars is the antithesis of what NYC, driven by
profit motivated banks, is all about. It's an example of a bubble.

~~~
itswindy
Greater fool theory. They hope to dump it on a bigger fool and make money

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besvinick
If you don't get the idea of NYC being a startup hub, take a look at this
post: [http://ventureminded.me/post/5891689041/why-nyc-will-win-
out...](http://ventureminded.me/post/5891689041/why-nyc-will-win-out-over-the-
valley)

Also, even though Foursquare opened up a SF office, the key point is that it
is BASED in NYC. The app still says "made in NYC." Dens is an East Coast guy,
and that's what matters. If Zuck started Facebook now, he just as easily could
have stayed in Boston or come to NYC (he's from just outside the city).
However, in 2004, he had no choice but to go to the Valley.

