
Pittsburgh as a tech hub? - timr
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/06/penguins_pirate.html
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grudgnor
I've been wanting to post my thanks to news.YC for a while now, because if it
weren't for an article back in the beginning of the year about Innovation
Works Alphalab incubator, I wouldn't have submitted an application, got to the
interviews, won one of the 6 spots, and be sitting here in the Southside
Alphalab offices as I type this right now.

Thanks for the Pittsburgh love YC, I have a startup because of you.

~~~
brianlash
That's really awesome. Kudos!!

Where are you from? And why AlphaLab over YC?

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brianlash
It's a different kind of "tech" that goes on in Pittsburgh (spoken from a
22-year-old lifetime resident). You just don't hear about young guys hacking
away to solve new problems, and the InformationWeek article echos that. Look
at the videos... everyone's 30, 40+ in some cases.

Older heads out of the area's #1 uni (CMU) are the ones who get the attention
of big money. Under 30 need not apply, and God help you if you graduated from
Pitt, Duquesne...

Not saying any of this is inherently a bad thing. It's _different_ (from
Silicon Valley, Boston). But I'm not convinced it's a net positive as far as
innovation and entrepreneurship go. And it's almost certainly the wrong
climate for young hackers of a non-prestigious pedigree.

~~~
dimitry
Totally agreed.

I've been planning to make the move back to Pittsburgh and can't find anything
remotely interesting and 'startup'-like (looking for a front-end engineering
position).

I think AlphaLabs is doing a great thing and I will definitely apply for the
next round (considering I'll be living in Pgh by then).

But for now... I'm a bit lost.

