Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay area are known the world over for the tech companies and venture capital funds that call this region home. Many young professionals aspire to leave college with degree in hand and become force multipliers at the techtonic center of the software and internet capital of the world. With talent flocking in from around the world and regional universities like Stanford, Brekley, UCSF; the talent pool of engineers, legal and accounting services, banks and venture capital firms is as deep as the ocean.
Talent flocks for money, talent leaves for money. The cost of living is high, property is rare, rent is climbing, financial incentives given by companies are taxable and not redeemable at book value, payroll and retroactive taxes have been enforced by the city of San Francisco. While the San Fran culture has been known in the past as socially liberal, authoritarian culture has set it. To sum it up, the Bay Area is a full of very cold choppy waters.
So where are free thinking, cost saving professionals to go?
Austin Texas!
California and Texas have a love hate relationship. Residents in both states are more likely to leave for the other state than any other state in the USA. Texas is winning the tug of war with 2x more Californian refugees incoming than Texas refugees outgoing.
Texas is known for great universities, thriving business metropolitans, low overall taxes, low cost of living, and huge tracts of cattle land. Austin is the capital of both Texas and live music, creating a pleasant mix of professional and progressive attitudes. Austin is also the headquarters of Whole Foods and major branch offices for Google, Amazon and Facebook. In local lore, Austin is where business, engineering and creative talent settle down to call home and live for real.
If you are a professional home hunting for your startup or freelance business, check out this spot on S. Lamar offered up by SpaceCadet.io
And also checkout all the Austin Blockchain Meetups offering intellectual capital and stimulation for anyone interested.
If you are from the Austin, Texas area we would love to hear from you and talk more about blockchains, startups and collaborations.