Rational people actively optimize where they live based on opportunity
Sten Tamkivi · a16z Podcast | Software and Overcoming the Randomness of Birthplace · Jan 2, 2019 · at 34:41
Sten Tamkivi is the co-founder and CEO of Teleport, discussing how modern technology frees skilled talent from being constrained by their birthplace.
0:00 / 0:08exact quote · 8.3s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“Changing your place and picking the optimal location and considering location is, is, is just the thing that rational people should do when living in that world.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Sten Tamkivi
Regional tech hubs cannot beat Silicon Valley by simply copying it
“As any startup, in order to win the incumbents needs to be 10 X better than that incumbent. It's impossible to be another Silicon Valley and be 10 X better than the Silicon Valley that already exists.”
No more than 5% of the world's top tech talent is in Silicon Valley
“That's, yeah. That's a recent pointer was Paul Graham wrote a great essay on this topic, is that reminding the American public and the tech scene that if you look at the statistics, if you look at the probability or the distribution of the top tech talent in t…”
Moving to Silicon Valley without connections wastes unfunded founders' resources
“If you are a unfunded founder with no valid ties and you just land in SFO with an intent to build a successful business, this is probably one of the most extensive places where you can spend your resources just to network a bit and get to know people because n…”
Moving to Silicon Valley is no longer a binary decision for startups
“Or what my thesis is that it's not a binary answer anymore. It's not like, should you move to the Valley or not? It's like, okay, you're in software business. When and how and how often should you spend time in the Valley? And what are the other places where y…”
Mountain View is poorly suited for heavily regulated frontier tech startups
“Like if you wanted to build a company that operates drones and trades in Bitcoin while doing that and maybe layer something, I don't know, stem cells into that mixer or something, it's very unlikely that you should create that company in Mountain View.”
Remote engineering salary savings easily cover travel costs for team retreats
“But in, in my experience, the Competition on tech talent and the top engineers in the world in Silicon Valley has grown to a point where that if you hire a person outside here, like you go to even Portland or Seattle or Vancouver, or even London or Tokyo, whic…”