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Sergey Brin: Don't Come To Silicon Valley To Start a Business (businessinsider.com)

Posted by msmash on from the think-about-it dept.

An anonymous reader shares a Business Insider report:If you're itching to start a company out of a garage, then you shouldn't pick up and move to Silicon Valley, according to Google cofounder Sergey Brin. It's easier to start a company outside the Valley than in it, he said onstage at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. "I know that sort of contradicts what everyone here has been saying," he said with a laugh. "During the boom cycles, the expectations around the costs -- real estate, salaries -- the expectations people and employees have ... it can be hard to make a scrappy initial business that's self-sustaining," he said. "Whereas in other parts of the world you might have an easier time for that."But he adds that Silicon Valley is good for scaling that opportunity.

4 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. Translation by Bovius · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Do the riskiest part of starting a business somewhere else. Then, when it reaches maximum future potential, bring it to Silicon Valley so we can buy it out from under you for a song and make a ton of money."

    1. Re:Translation by swillden · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And those people are there because of all the businesses that are there. It's one big feedback loop that's going to keep building until it breaks

      Or until the cities cave in and start allowing high-density housing to be constructed, building decent mass transit (which is easier with high-density housing), etc. The actual population density is quite low compared to truly urban environments. But while they insist on sticking with a suburban lifestyle they're going to be bursting at the seams.

      Luckily, it does appear that Mountain View, at least, is finally starting to recognize this. After years of obstructionism, they have finally approved some high-density housing on the north bayshore. http://www.mv-voice.com/news/2.... With a lot more of that sort of thing, they could fix the problem. Of course, if they do too much of it, all of the people with million-dollar mortgages on $300,000 (at best) houses are going to be in trouble...

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  2. location, location, location by Thud457 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    payroll's a bitch when your employees have to be millionaires to afford their very own hovel.

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    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  3. start your business in Canada by cats-paw · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The healthcare situation in this country is so fucked up.

    At least when you are paying everybody as little as possible to get off the ground, they will have good healthcare.

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    Absolute statements are never true