[geverett]

As someone who started a company outside SV, then moved there for 3 years to grow the company, and has now moved away again - I would say it's well worth it to spend at least some time in the Valley to build a network and understand how deals get done in person.

The density of investors and other founders/early employees in Silicon Valley can't be beat, and I often found myself learning inadvertently - dinner table conversations would be about how people raised their round, the friend of a friend you meet while camping turns out to be a partner at a fund you're trying to pitch. In more cases than are logical or fair, people simply invest in their friends - which means if you make friends there you're increasing the chance you'll be able to raise money easily.

That being said, the cost of living is absurd and I would never hire an engineer in Silicon Valley unless I was building something at the outer limits of frontier tech (and even then I'd scour the globe for qualified engineers elsewhere). And I don't think you need to be there forever. If you build up a solid network you can move away and still reap a lot of the benefits from afar / through occasional visits.

[everdev]

I did web design sales from Silicon Valley but used a remote team (US-based) to develop the projects. Everyone was happy. Clients got a great project, I had great margins and the team got paid at or above going rates in their local area.

I would never try to build an in person team in the bay area unless you need the absolute 1% of engineers on your team.

[jen20]

If you need the “absolute 1%” of engineers on your team, you go to them where they are, by having a remote-first team and hiring remotely.

[everdev]

IMO, most are already working in the Bay Area at the big companies or unicorns. If you know how to find that ultra top tier talent remotely I'd love to hear what's worked for you.

[jen20]

Frankly just being remote is sufficient - HashiCorp (for example) was almost entirely remote for engineering for a long time (and may still be, I haven't kept track).

Some people ended up in the Bay Area, many people appreciated being able to live and work elsewhere. Not least, Europe.

[true_tuna]

Where did you move? I’d guess 50% of the people in this thread are open to leaving the Bay Area if we find a location with comparable opportunity.

[ghaff]

The thing is that "comparable opportunities" equates to (perceived) Bay Area salaries which are more or less equated to higher-end FAANG salaries and the (perceived) ability for a random engineer to drop a few emails and be starting in a new well-compensated position the following Monday.

You're not going to get those most places. I'm not sure it's the norm in the Bay Area either though.

[Kalium]

> The thing is that "comparable opportunities" equates to (perceived) Bay Area salaries which are more or less equated to higher-end FAANG salaries

In my experience, people mostly look to preserve their financial position rather than take a jump up. Just because rent's cheaper somewhere else doesn't mean I want to take a proportionate pay cut. I've watched people turn jobs down flat when offered 50% of their pay in NYC because rent is half of NYC's.

Salary history matters a lot of negotiating power in the future. Salary matters for building up a financial cushion in case this job elsewhere doesn't work out and now I'm somewhere that has a lot fewer options on offer.

[sidlls]

I don't work at FAANG. My "all in" is about 65% what I'd earn at FAANG at the same level (EM, L5/6). It's about 150%, or more, of what I'd earn just about anywhere else in the US. Not to mention the opportunity cost: most anywhere else the software job market is not nearly as well developed.

It is absolutely the norm in the Bay Area for salaries even adjusted for cost of living to be far better than elsewhere. Plus all the additional attractive features like a relatively more tolerant population, much more diversity, better public venues like parks, and recreation like museums and such.

[geverett]

I'm in the process of trying to figure out where I'm going to be based next, leaning towards Puerto Rico (love the climate, friendly local population, easy/cheap/fast hop to family in New York, incredible tax incentives for people running businesses, sense of excitement/opportunity as the state rebuilds). 'Comparable opportunity' is relative - while an engineer here isn't as likely to earn a Bay Area salary, as a founder I think it's likely I could raise a decent round while based here (likely sourcing a lot of capital from Silicon Valley) while enjoying a comparably low cost of living and doing business. If I were trying to build the next Instagram I wouldn't do it here but there are so many businesses that need to be built here. I'm a firm believer you can find opportunity anywhere if you get creative. It's more fun to be a statistical outlier :)

I'm also in a position at the moment where I have relatively low overhead (no kids, good health) and realize that might not be the case for everyone, though I'd bet it's the case for many people who don't bother to take advantage of it.