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by skndr 2865 days ago
I think the implication is that it's captured via salaries paying high rent.
1 comments

It's actually pretty easy to calculate. Labor costs can account for up to 70% of total business costs so, out of $100, roughly $70mm is spent on salaries. The "one-third rule" for landlords to determine eligibility for rent means you can spend up to roughly 33% of your income on rent. So 33% out of $70mm is $23 million. You can say that 23% of every VC dollar goes towards landlords.
This assumes people spend at the 33% level on housing.

You'd have to actually know what people are spending on housing, after accounting for spouses/roommates.

It could end more being more or less than 23 million, easily.

e.g. I spend ~22%

Also, some people will own their home or live at a family owned home.

In SV owning your home or living in family owned one for the avg tech employee is unlikely, and 33% is probably less in SV not more
That's only the employee portion, you also spend money on office space.
Also some of the employee's non-rent spending will go to local businesses which will spend some of that money on rent and some of that money on salaries and so on with the new set of employees.
You're applying the "one-third rule" to pre-tax salary, but it's generally applied to take-home pay.