
Ask HN: Joining the fast paced SV world as a self-taught midwesterner? - svdevhopeful
Some people leave tech hubs to settle for a more slow paced life, but I am the opposite. I&#x27;ll looking to switch it up more. I want to move out west and try a new way of looking at work. The culture of highly valuated unicorns and meal substitutes seems weird and enthralling at the same time.<p>I&#x27;m a self-taught web developer working for 7 years now, but my work, and overall pace in life in general, feels very slow and uneventful. Not to mention being underpaid. So even if I wanted to go on a sabbatical, and go on an adventure traveling to do something fun, I cannot afford it.<p>Not even the local start-ups are doing it for me. They don&#x27;t pay me well, and I still feel like a cost center in these places. Everywhere I go, there are cowboy coding practices in place, and developers go unappreciated.<p>And all for what? Uninspired products that I can&#x27;t really get into. It&#x27;s one thing if I had a job that paid decently, but at this point in my life, I don&#x27;t want to work just anywhere. Hardly anyone in the local area is doing anything &quot;sexy&quot;. I read articles about self-driving cars, IOT, automated stores, but most importantly, B2C products that I can actually relate to. I don&#x27;t want to work for a stuffy business, or make small sites that only get 100&#x27;s of hits per day- I want to be part of the bustling tech scene. I want to understand why RSUs are important to SV when no company in the Midwest (that I know of) offers them.<p>I know the grass is greener on the other side. I&#x27;m mainly interested replies that are in support of my goal, but with advice on how to get ready for tech hubs in general. Should I go straight to unicorn and big tech companies to apply? Or start with something more humble, but local to SV? I want to see it through as a midwesterner, who&#x27;s been mostly in slow-paced underpaid jobs and rarely traveled out of state. And if anyone has had a similar experience to mine, that would be even more awesome to hear from you.
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cimmanom
What do you have to lose by trying it out?

Get a job and relocate. Promise yourself to stick it out for at least a year.

If you love it, stay.

If you hate it, return to where you are now, with a greater appreciation for
the things you missed. No harm, no foul.

And if there are some aspects you love and others you hate, perhaps check out
one of the other tech hubs (Seattle, Austin, New York, Denver, Boston, etc) -
they each have a different flavor. Different pace. Different weather.
Different focuses. Different balance. Different values.

