Boulder for startups? | Hacker News Reader

Boulder for startups?

6 pointsgotrecruit10 comments

I'm currently enrolled in the University of Miami for Computer Science, and on the side I'm also trying to get my own tech startup going. I'm considering transferring over the University of Colorado, Boulder for CS because it appears to have a better engineering school, and also that I've often heard the tagline "Boulder is for startups". Is this true? Can someone from Boulder chime in and give some opinions on how the startup environment is like in Boulder? It would also be helpful to know things like bar scene, nightlife, etc, basically anything I need to know about life in Boulder. Thanks!

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I'm a long time Boulder resident (10 years with a 3 year stint in NYC). I'm also co-founder and CTO at OpDemand. Our office is on the Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder. AMA. ;)

Boulder is a fantastic place for startups, but keep in mind it's a city of 100k people. I happen to love that; others find it limiting. The community is very supportive, everyone knows everyone, etc. The bar/nightlife scene is better than your typical college town, plus Denver is close if you want bigger clubs/DJs/bands -- and don't forget Red Rocks. The most amazing thing to me, though, is the food scene. The quantity and quality of restaurants rivals big cities, and has to be seen (or tasted) to be believed.

Feel free to PM me if you have more questions re: pot, etc.

hey thanks for responding. i did not realize it's so small with only 100k people, but i think i might actually like such a small community. and i do find the fact that there are many great restaurants there to be a tremendous plus. and according to craigslist, the rent isn't that crazy either - i see many places going for less than $1,000 a month which is what i'm paying for a 1-br right now in coral gables.

re: pot - as mentioned, i AM a big smoker (vaper to be exact). how has the scene changed since the legalization? if you're not comfortable sharing in public, just let me know and i'll pm you in private!

oh on a more serious topic: how hard is it to recruit developers and engineers in boulder? i'm a non-technical founder who is returning to school for CS, but i don't want to be limited to recruiting just fellow students who may not have what i need.

email me: gabriel _ opdemand _ com and i'm happy to continue the discussion.

Yeah I live in Boulder now. Before that I lived in Silicon Valley. In terms of startups, Boulder feels a lot like Silicon Valley to me but much smaller. Denver (not too far away) has a good startup scene as well.

The nightlife in Boulder exists but it is pretty chill in my opinion. I think it is because most people here actually do stuff outside (i.e. hike, bike, ski, etc). The nightlife in Denver is a bit better and I would say it is typical of most larger U.S. cities. To be fair, I did not go to school in Boulder so I cannot comment on a university student's version of nightlife.

thanks for your input, i was worried this thread would be buried and no one would see it.

is boulder a college town? is it expensive to live there?

also, i'm just going to come out and say it: i'm a big pot smoker, and frankly one of the reasons i'm looking to colorado is that pot is legal there and i'd like to live in a place where i'm not technically breaking the law every night. do you know anything about the pot scene?

i do think the outside activity stuff sounds interesting, although i'm not really an outdoorsy guy. from your description, boulder sounds like coral gables which is where i am now - a college town that is 45 minutes drive from the notorious south beach party scene.

Yes it is a college town, but it is a bit more urban than your typical college town. It is also right next to the mountains (literally) which is something I enjoy. Rent is expensive but if you have roommates it should be fine. There are lot of hippies in Boulder so yes plenty of pot.

i'm actually thinking of getting my own place, because i work frequently from home and enjoy my privacy. can you give me an idea of how much a decent 1-br would cost per month in rent?

also, how's the weather there? is it always cold?

rent: http://boulder.craigslist.org/apa/

It is sunny most of the time maybe even more than Florida. It is not humid either. When the sun is out in winter, it feels warm even if it is 30 degrees. It is very cold if there is a winter storm, but the snow melts almost immediately and it is back to feeling warm during the day. Summers are very pleasant.

And unlike the Midwest (where I grew up), it is warmer overall in the winter and there is stuff to do.

Have debated moving to SV but Boulder sounds interesting. When you say "smaller" do you mean the ecosystem, " vibe" and talent is just as strong as SV just with fewer people, or do you mean it's on the right track but still not comparable to SV?

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