

Former Sun CEO Worries About Silicon Valley - Serene
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704422204576130520662465078.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

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fourspace
While some of the article just seems like nostalgic yearning, I agree that
it's not necessarily the best place to start a company. My wife and I were
making a very good income at Google but still found ourselves wondering how we
would ever afford to a buy house, raise a family and other medium to long-term
goals. The idea of starting a company while having to pay $3000+ in rent was
laughable.

We lived in the Bay Area for the last 5 years and wound up moving to
Charlotte, NC in order to bootstrap my business. While the tech/startup
community here is obviously much smaller, it's thriving. I've been completely
surprised by the level of diverse technical talent here and now that I'm
outside of the Silicon Valley bubble I see that Charlotte's not alone. There
are thriving startup communities all over the country and at the end of the
day, it's easy enough to hop on a plane to SF to visit investors. I'd rather
focus on building my business than constantly worry about how I'm going to
afford housing.

~~~
eyeareque
With dual income I am surprised you weren't able to buy a home in silicon
valley. Unless you are dead set on sending your kids to school in Cupertino
(or another expensive area with a really good school).

Also, why spend 3k a month on rent? You can get an older one bedroom apartment
for just under 1k within ~8 miles of the Google HQ. If you are single you
could also rent a room in Mountain View for ~650 a month.

It isn't hard to live on the cheap in silicon valley. You just need to be
smart with your money. (99 Ranch for groceries, drive a economic car, don't
eat out all the time, don't buy a 65 inch flatscreen tv. :) )

Obviously you have already moved away so this information won't matter to you
now. I'm posting this for other people who are in a similar situation.

~~~
rdouble
_You can get an older one bedroom apartment for just under 1k within ~8 miles
of the Google HQ_

Where?

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jaredsohn
Here's one such place (not sure if it is older or not, but it is under 1K and
close to Google HQ): <http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/apa/2204805441.html>

~~~
tptacek
That's a studio, not a 1bdr.

~~~
jaredsohn
Sorry, I wasn't making a distinction between studios and one bedroom
apartments since I have searched for either when looking for an apartment for
myself; but yes, there is a difference.

Also, for the record, from my search on craigslist I didn't see any one
bedroom apartments in that price range (just studios), although as another
post mentions it wouldn't be easy to raise children in a one bedroom apartment
anyway.

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6ren
The internet was supposed to facilitate telecommuting etc, yet some of the
people most in the know - the yc partners - require startups to _physically_
relocate to Silicon Valley.

~~~
chime
Unfortunately, the Internet was supposed to (
[http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=active&q=%22...](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=active&q=%22the+internet+was+supposed+to%22&aq=f&aqi=g-v1&aql=&oq)
=) do nothing of that sort. Telecommuting would indeed become viable for many
types of jobs because of the Internet but that doesn't mean just because you
work in an SV tech-startup, telecommuting could replace face-to-face
interaction. If I'm not mistaken, YC startups get a lot of benefit from being
in the Valley - they get to meet other founders, SV movers-and-shakers,
talented engineers, and potential users/business-partners/employees. While YC
requires the founders to be in SV, I'm pretty certain the employees of the
startup can be almost anywhere in the world. Running a startup is different
from being a telecommuting developer. The former requires shaking a lot of
hands and talking about your vision in person while the latter requires
application of tech skills and experience and can be done remotely.

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bigiain
A bit off topic, but it's a bit sad/melancholy to be reminded that Sun - who
actually made real physical _stuff_ like all those Sparcs and Alphas - ended
up selling for barely more than what Groupon apparently recently turned
down...

~~~
rbanffy
Sun never made Alphas. Those came from Digital (Equipment Corporation, not
Research).

But I agree it's sad. Sun's accomplishments were something to behold.

~~~
bigiain
And now I just read they're claiming Zygna is worth over 7billion - the
company that make _Farmville_, who could be destroyed anytime Facebook
chooses, is worth the same or more than _Sun Microsystems?_ Surely that's
insane?

(oh, and "oops" on the Alphas error... I _did_ know they were build by DEC...
Thanks for the correction)

~~~
rbanffy
Yes... The indignity of being worth less than the owners of Farmville is even
worse than being sold to Oracle...

------
OstiaAntica
"The biggest issues with the Valley are local, state and federal governmental
overreach and overregulation. It's over-pensioned, over-unionized and over the
top."

\-- Scott McNealy

~~~
beoba
Wish he could have been bothered to describe how he thinks things should be
done differently.

