May have been skewed by the fact the only one I've been to was on the evening following Startup School, but I was told that all of the SHDH events have about the same turnout.
I'd start learning to be more self-reliant and stop seeking advice on what I should do with my life from random people on the internet.
Asking for advice from peers who are actively involved in what you want to do is a great idea.
Since you are early in your dev career, I would highly recommend finding an existing startup to join with more experienced developers and learning from them - both what they do wrong and what they do right. Hopefully more of the latter ;)
When I left my first bay area job I almost did my own startup at that point. However, when I was honest with myself, I realized I wasn't ready to do it alone and needed a team. So I looked around and applied at several startups. I felt great about one particular startup where the founder was super-smart in business, but also very mature and kind. I don't think I ever saw him get upset or show the least unkindness during the whole startup phase. And he had plenty to be frustrated with, believe me. Anyway, I learned a ton of good and bad through that experience and the company was acquired by Intuit for $60 million. I was really lucky in that regard. Most startups will not have an exit so quick or so profitable.
So that's my recommendation based on my limited experience. Good luck!
I think he has some serious soul searching to do and that's what I was trying to communicate. I could have said it more gently I suppose.
If you actually read his question, it's clear that he is asking very specifically for advice on this situation:
1) Moving to California
2) Wants cofounders
3) Has junior dev skills in PHP/Ruby
4) Has 10K in savings
Doesn't sound much like the meta-physical angst question as you suggest...
Exactly.
The good news is that there are plenty of startups that already have the "show off the ground". Join the most interesting startup you can find with a team you 'click' with, then work your tail off with them. You'll learn more than you ever dreamt ;)
If I present a problem to a bunch of friends, the chance that I'll just take their list of suggestions and pick one to run with is minimal. What is valuable are the various tidbits of information that come up during the discussion. Often, it's information that I wouldn't have thought to ask about directly.
Edit: No, but seriously, downmodding aside, apply for google. Working for a big company in a new place is a decent way of building up connections and local knowledge. Google is about the least egregious option, so go with them.
Don't spend too much effort on it though...the interview process can really suck up a lot of time (I know because my girlfriend works there), and if you aren't really Google material (don't have a proper degree in your area of interest, for example) your odds of getting hired are low...particularly given your inexperience. I've received a recruitment letter from Google due to some projects of mine on the web, but I suspect I wouldn't actually get hired. Luckily, I already know what I want to do in California, so I don't need to work at Google while I figure it out. ;-)
Talking in front of crowds? That'd be a good reason. Lots of events going on over here. But first you need an app to show off :)
I love CA, don't take me wrong! I'm just saying that a bit of planning would make your 10k last longer.
This is according to a French philosopher (digging deep here, trying to remember that freshman course...) who used an example of a young man in France, during the German occupation in WW2.
He was trying to decide between joining the priesthood or the resistance.
The fact that he went to his local church for advice meant, according to the philosopher (attention lazyweb: name check?), that he already decided for the priesthood, and just needed some reassurance or confirmation.