How many Y Combinator startups have stayed in Cambridge or Bay Area? | Hacker News Reader

How many Y Combinator startups have stayed in Cambridge or Bay Area?

11 pointsinklesspen18 comments

I'm interested in how many Y Combinator startups have stayed in the area where they were formed, or if they've moved "Back Home" or to other cities.

Overall the more successful startups are less likely to move "home." And among successful ones that did, in all but one case, home happened to be a startup hub. E.g. Iminlikewithyou went to NYC, TextPayMe to Seattle. The one exception so far is Wufoo, who moved back to Florida.

I have it on pretty good authority that at least two of the three Wufoos would prefer to move back to the valley.

Our company is also staying in the valley for a while...though we'll eventually need a presence back in Austin (where I moved from for WFP07), because about half of the largest companies we want to sell to are in Texas.

That's pretty much what I was expecting; thanks for the confirmation.

I think it may depend on the type of startup. If I was a "dating" related startup, I'd want to be in NYC. NYC is very huge on the "dating" scene. Heck, they have speed dating there where the guy has to make at least over half a million dollars a year and the girls have to be 'hot' to attend the speed dating session. Tickets cost $500 per person and the speed dating sessions are always sold out.

All I know is that the day after Startup School my cofounders and I starting scoping out places online to help with the move. :)

auctomatic "moved" back to London in the sense that we're filing visa applications to get back out there asap. what's more interesting is the number of Cambridge startups that end up in SV (usually in the Crystal Towers building)

May I ask what your visa options are? (fellow non-US citizen here).

where is the crystal towers building?

It's just an apartment building in San Francisco, but a freakish number of their units are rented by YC founders at this point. It feels more like a dormitory than an apartment building.

sounds like a fun environment, rent is a little high even by SF standards, and especially for a pre-funding startup, but i guess if/after the angel and vc rounds come, it is not such a concern.

Month to month rent, furnished apts, utilities included, friends and help close by - founders have enough things to think about when running a company that they are willing to pay a premium for convenience. I am.

how much is the rent? will probably make my hair stand on end comparing it to Kansas rents. (just asking so I can get my kicks for the day and skip drinking coffee this morning)

about $2600 for a 2 bedroom.

I'm sure SF is a great social scene... but this seems cash inefficient.

For $2600 you could rent 2.6 houses in the Seattle area... and seattle ain't exactly cheap. Or put another way, you get a nice 2BR house to live in with a yard, and you get a 3BR house to use as the office.... all for the rent of an apartment in SF?

wow! A good 2 bedroom/2 bathroom apt with garage will run you about $850 per month in Leawood/Overland Park - the third richest county in the US in terms of disposable income.

what about Inkling? they're in chicago, which is a decidedly lesser startup hub.

Yeah, true; ok, Wufoo and Inkling.

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