

Ask HN: Do you know whats happening in Chattanooga, Tennessee? - twog

I just moved to Chattanooga last month &#38; there are seriously some amazing things happening here. The community (check out here: http://tgemayel.github.com/Nooga-Startups/) Reminds me of Austin, Tx pre 2006.<p>Chattanooga has a lot of really awesome things about it, here are a few:<p>- Booming startup scene with dozens of startups all close together &#38; growing quickly.<p>- Low cost of living. I pay about 1/4th of what the average cost of an apartment in the valley is, for a beautiful loft located right in Downtown ( I ride my longboard to work everyday)<p>- Chattanooga was the first city in the northern hemisphere with gigabit internet http://www.thegigcity.com/<p>- Amazing outdoor scene for rock climbing, kayaking, hiking and more<p>- The local government &#38; the state of tennessee are investing heavily in the tech scene (see gigcity)<p>- Big &#38; active angel investment scene. We raised money here &#38; in the valley with no problems. The quality &#38; integrity of investors here is also very high.<p>- A very high quality of designers. Chattanooga is a hip &#38; art inspired place<p>- Just an hour and a half from Atlanta (Georgia Tech), Nashville, &#38; other larger cities<p>- High quality engineers at a low cost w/ great cultural fits for us ( they like whiskey &#38; working hard)
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btrautsc
Can't agree enough with @twog here.

we were funded in Chattanooga over a year ago and have had an incredible
experience. We started as a completely green 3 man startup spread across the
country, recruited a cofounder from UT Knoxville CS, and have since been able
to bring on 8 amazing people.

PG says, 'If you can just avoid dying, you get rich'. Now, obviously there is
a lot more to it - but taking that sentiment at its face, being in Chattanooga
is one of the best business decisions your startup can make.

Sure, you'll have to travel further to conferences or won't meet the latest
A16Z founder at the coffee shop (well, until they invest in us), but think of
the benefits...

We have 12 incredibly talented people... and what we've spent in 20 months is
what most Valley startups burn through in 6. Thus, our 'avoid dying budget'
metrics are pretty healthy for a 'seed' payroll.

Cost of living is incredible. I bought a house a mile from our downtown
office, and my mortgage is ~ 30% of what people are scrambling to pay in rent
in SOMA - with a park and an awesome tavern less than a 1 minute walk.

Which brings up the next crucial piece, Quality of Life. Simply amazing. Yes,
to catch an NFL or NBA game, you'll have to make a 90 minute trip - but that
is not much worse than SV, and much better than Austin. Downtown Chattanooga
is incredibly accessible with a great bar/ music scene, a rapidly redeveloping
former industrial area with lofts, coffee shops, etc, and is literally 20
minutes from some of the best climbing/ hiking in the world.

To wrap up, if you want an amazing quality of life, great startup culture and
energized scene, great community support, and _most importantly_ want to
survive longer than your east or west coast competition, check out
Chattanooga.

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ConceptJunkie
Sounds great. My family and I took a vacation in and around Chattanooga a few
years ago and we thought it was a great part of the country (from northern
Virginia).

Your experience confirms this. I think the idea of "having" to be in Silicon
Valley, or even other tech hotspots like Boston or the D.C. metro area (where
I live) is just wrong.

The cost of living in those places ranges from high to insane, but there are
lots of great places to live in this country. Physical proximity should be
treated as less critical, because _it is_.

I hope it works out for you.

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codegeek
I once posted an article here at HN which got some interesting discussions
about Chattanooga and how it is actually paying techies to relocate.

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4615159>

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NathanDerrick
Chattanooga is a special place. The entire community is a living breathing
organism that exists to see you succeed. You can "Feel" the energy/excitement.
Proud to have started my company in CHA. Love to tell anyone more nd [at]
supplyhog.com

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jhought3
Chattanooga is doing some amazing things. I grew up an hour and half north in
Knoxville, traveling to Chattanooga nearly every weekend to Rock Climb. Its
easily one of the best climbing cities in the country & IMO destroys boulder
in quantity and quality of routes/rock. I moved here from California to start
a company about 2 years ago and have been very lucky to work with and meet so
many great people. Between the amazing people, great companies moving/starting
here, and the immense outdoor opportunities only minutes from downtown - it's
ripe for any tech/outdoor people.

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_dark_matter_
Interesting. It's great to see startup culture blossoming in different areas.
I'm especially enticed by the internet speeds; we've had a real problem lately
even with fiber.

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edbrown23
This may have more to do with my ignorance of the possibilities out there, but
as a soon to be college grad who would love to work in a growing community
such as Chattanooga, where does one look for available positions? The sites
often mentioned, like the one in the OP, usually highlight startups which are
not publicly hiring. Are there startup job boards?

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btrautsc
reach out to some of the companies on OP's page or feel free to shoot me an
email with your background/passion & I'll def pass it along - btrautsc [at]
gmail

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twog
Im also working on a job board soon. Drop me your email and I will make sure
to follow up with you when it launches

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gamblor956
Chattanooga: Silicon Riverbend.

