[buff-a]

Here's the opening of the article she referenced: "Austin's supply crunch for software developers was bad enough by September to prompt 25 Central Texas tech executives to fly to California in search of new talent."

Here's your argument: Maybe the OP doesn't want to live there but a lot of people do.

Apparently, 25 Central Texas tech executives think you are wrong.

So since we (well, everyone it appears but you) are talking about finding people who have not chosen to live in Texas, perhaps those companies might need to persuade people to move.

You'd have to pay me EXTRA to work in Austin, frankly.

[pwang]

No, 25 Central Texas tech executives just want to ignore the prevailing market forces on tech salaries.

You might not like Austin very much, but many, many bright tech folks here love it. Conversely, I know quite a few people that left the bay area because they couldn't stand the tech scene there. Different strokes for different folks, but the bottom line is that just as the Austin execs are wrong to ignore the upward trend on salaries, you are wrong to discount the dollar valuation of improvements in quality of life.

[buff-a]

You want us to "buy your product", and you sincerely believe that if we make the switch, we'll be happier. You've gotten all the early adopters, and all the malcontents. How are you going to attract everyone else who is still living in SF?

This is basic fucking customer development 101. Apparently, your Tech Execs think the answer is:

1) Buy everyone a beer and a taco.

2) Offer less salary because our product is Awesome!

Note: cost of switching for us: Move 1500 miles. Miss friends. Make new friends. Break rent contracts. Find rent contracts. And if we, in fact, do not like your product, we have to switch back again. I don't like AT&T much, but you're asking me to break my contract with them, and sign a contract with you to pay more for the same service because it'll be better quality. And if I don't like it, I'll incur the same costs going back to AT&T.

If this is how you "bright tech folks" in Austin do customer development, well...