In my experience, concentration produces the most powerful network effects. E.g. the closer the startups are brought together, the more they help one another. This is true both within and between cycles, and between startups and the greater community.
Though this isn't the reason we decided to be in CA year round, such interactions are much increased here. I was sitting in a cafe in Palo Alto recently having lunch, and in the course of one hour I ran into 3 YC founders and 2 angel investors I knew, all 5 of whom were there independently.
The thing we used to like about going back to Cambridge in the summer was the lack of this, actually. If you had to overhear the conversation at the next table, at least it was about Derrida and not virality.
Im in non-silicon valley - and not leaving anytime soon - I have a family, putting down some roots, etc. My hope though was that the online world would provide this network effect, though I guess there is just not enough bandwidth in online interactions for people to size each other up, make friendships, relationships, etc.
I understand the Silicon Valley advantage exists b/c of the physical proximity of so many important ingredients, and the overwhelming number of the ingredients, but surely the number of non-SV people outnumbers even that.
I would love to hear those kinds of conversations in diners around here - but it doesn't happen. The only place I hear those kinds of conversations are here, on the web. I have a fairly limited dialog with people on these subjects, really the market and my partner are the major sources of input for ideas and where to go in the future.
I'd love to be in SV, to be a part of it, but I'm not willing to trade what I and my family have for the benefits to found there. How can anyone afford to live there also, is beyond me.
Anyway - i'm rambling. I guess I should start to take my online identity more seriously. I should post in my profile what my company is and does. I should try and connect with people I meet on here. But finally, something is holding me back - a certain innate caution retreats from that type of display. Because for all of the wonderful people that are on here, there are probably some bad apples. I guess its the same as in the physical world, but there you have cues, and police, and safety.
pg - any way to add some kind of reputational system to hacker news? Or maybe thats a good startup idea.
You could put in anyone's username, and any site, and rate them on a series of categories - whatever. It can be as simple as 'friend' like facebook. But it would be a kind of metadata for these relationships. I could see if someone who is a friend of mine on here likes them, trusts them, etc. Though making all of that explicit might be too much. Human social interaction allows for alot of subtlety - you can say alot without saying anything. Thats another place online communication suffers, its very hard to detect sarcasm,etc. Oh well, I guess I'm really rambling now.
any way to add some kind of reputational system to hacker news?
I've often thought of doing something like that, as an aid to people trying to find hackers to hire. Would other people want such a thing? (Assuming it could be implemented in a way that wasn't obnoxious.)
Though this isn't the reason we decided to be in CA year round, such interactions are much increased here. I was sitting in a cafe in Palo Alto recently having lunch, and in the course of one hour I ran into 3 YC founders and 2 angel investors I knew, all 5 of whom were there independently.
The thing we used to like about going back to Cambridge in the summer was the lack of this, actually. If you had to overhear the conversation at the next table, at least it was about Derrida and not virality.