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.
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).
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.