Comment by tptacek | Hacker News Reader

Comment by tptacek | Hacker News Reader

I don't want to argue too much about this, because I think Graham is probably right, but this footnote struck me:

[4] As I was writing this, I had a demonstration of the density of startup people in the Valley. Jessica and I bicycled to University Ave in Palo Alto to have lunch at the fabulous Oren's Hummus. As we walked in, we met Charlie Cheever sitting near the door. Selina Tobaccowala stopped to say hello on her way out. Then Josh Wilson came in to pick up a take out order. After lunch we went to get frozen yogurt. On the way we met Rajat Suri. When we got to the yogurt place, we found Dave Shen there, and as we walked out we ran into Yuri Sagalov. We walked with him for a block or so and we ran into Muzzammil Zaveri, and then a block later we met Aydin Senkut. This is everyday life in Palo Alto. I wasn't trying to meet people; I was just having lunch. And I'm sure for every startup founder or investor I saw that I knew, there were 5 more I didn't. If Ron Conway had been with us he would have met 30 people he knew.

This sounds a little bit to me about what it must sound like to hear Brad Pitt talk about getting lunch in LA.

I wouldn't make this observation, which I think is superficial, except that I'm surprised to see that Graham didn't mitigate it ("and it's not just because I'm Paul Graham; lots of companies we've funded that haven't even launched have reported the same experience").

He was only illustrating how thick the Valley is with that kind of people, not claiming they'll come up and say "Hi" if they don't know you. I don't see how being Paul Graham makes it any more likely that people associated with startups will be at Oren's Hummus or in front of some random yogurt joint when you arrive (unless we're postulating some PGPS technology that tells entrepreneurs where they can meet Paul at any given time).

You would be surprised. Probably because of the density of University Ave and the consistently great weather (with today as an exception) it's actually just incredibly common to run into people you know. On top of that people in Palo Alto are on average doing really amazing things.

Sure, I don't doubt it, I'm just saying it helps a lot to be among the more powerful people in the valley; the people you know that you run into are apt to be of a higher caliber.

Can I say again that I think Graham is probably right in this post?

He did mention that Ron Conway would have know even more people.

(Curiously enough I ran into thingsilearned as I was bicycling home from lunch today. Or would have if he hadn't scurried across the crosswalk just in time.)

"This sounds a little bit to me about what it must sound like to hear Brad Pitt talk about getting lunch in LA."

But the difference is if I flew out to the Valley and knew who to look for there is no doubt in my mind that I could go right up to anyone of the people that Paul mentioned and say something to them and they would listen certainly for a minute or longer. That wouldn't happen in LA. And I'm not Paul Graham.

Way back in 1998 or 99 I sent an email to Tim Draper and had no problem setting up a meeting. That wouldn't have happened in Hollywood. The valley is different. As Paul mentions, the density is important. If you are in fashion, it's NYC. If you are in entertainment - LA. Jewelry? The diamond district in NY. You go where the most people are doing what you want to do. In the case of tech that's the valley.

pg's experience is clearly out of the ordinary because he is pg.

But I've had a not incomparable experience after having lived in SF for 3 months. Palo Alto is packed full of people doing interesting stuff, and you're bound to bump into them

It actually sounds really close to the reality. It surprised me years ago when I would come to conferences here...but it really is just part of the culture.

I think it has a lot to do with just how down-to-earth most people are in Silicon Valley. You can be in any place full of "celebrities" - say Hollywood - and spot a lot of familiar faces/names. But "running into" so many and interacting with them seems to be a Silicon Valley thing. Certainly the level of help that people are willing to extend, gaining nothing but karma in return, seems rare outside of this area.

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