[Brushfire]

Welcome to Indy. It is pretty bad here. So much so that I'm moving away.

There are lots of companies that call themselves startups around here, perhaps 10% truly are. The most notable one in all the media is ChaCha, and its a fucking joke if you ask me.

There are good developers/hackers around here, but its not the same as the west coast.

Either way, welcome to Indy... It can be an OK city if you like Insurance, Transportation, Conventions and Basketball. :p

[mileszs]

I'm in Indy, also. I haven't lived here long. I think that part of the problem is that there are more startup-oriented people than one would think, but everyone thinks there are no startup oriented people. (A couple weeks ago I found out my neighbor in the apartment above me had applied to YC, and is a HackerNews reader. Tim?)

Perhaps we should have an Indy HN meetup sometime. In what part of Indy are you (you being anyone in Indy reading this) located?

If you like Ruby, there is a monthly Ruby group meeting at the downtown library (which is pretty awesome, in my opinion). Search meetup.com for Ruby and Indianapolis.

Complaining is useless. Maybe we can improve the city's startup scene ourselves, huh? Who else is going to do it?

Edit: To clarify: the library is awesome. I've only been to last month's Ruby meeting, so far. I get the feeling many of these sorts of groups are in their infancy. The Ruby group is sponsored by DealerFlow (http://dealerflow.com/), which is a startup of sorts. The Indianapolis Star (newspaper) employs some Ruby hackers (Indy.com is currently Rails, for now). I work at a data center (ChaCha is a customer) writing our custom intranet apps using Ruby/Rails. There are bright spots in Indy, you just have to dig.

[netshade]

Agreed. I also go to the Indy Ruby Meetup (one of the Star guys), and the city scene is not terrible. (at least, in terms of the talent you'll meet)

In terms of available jobs, it is a bit frustrating. I know the Dealer Flow guys are currently looking for new talent - they're doing some cool stuff w/ Erlang (ejabberd, primarily I believe) and Ruby/Rails. There's a place in town called Sagebit (sagebit.com), which is smaller and does a mix of their own products + consultancy work. I don't know if they're looking, but they're good people to meet regardless. (Ruby/Rails/Merb, btw.) I know there's also some startup stuff going on down in Bloomington, which is (of course, entirely by my own opinion) a bit more likely of a town to make good computer sci. contacts in the greater world, what with your proximity to IUB. I only say that to guess, however.

Additionally, there's a Python meetup group in town, a bit smaller than the Ruby group. They've been regularly meeting at Broadripple Brewpub, and are primarily pushed by Six Feet Up, a company that's pretty active in the Zope/Plone/Python world. SFU is mostly consultant based, not really a startup, but they're good people to meet if you're more into that sorta thing.

AFA an HN meetup in Indy, I'd give a +1 to that.

[indylarry]

+1 for HN meetup. I have lived in Indy almost all my life and love it. However, if you are looking for a hot bed of web startups you are going to be disappointed. It is extremely hard to keep talented people here with the magnetic pull of SF and Boston.

The entrepreneurial community has been growing in the last few years and I believe the local angel investors and VC's are open to ideas revolving around the internet and technology. I have been to a few events put on by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and both had contests for the best startup pitch/idea. Both were run by small startups (a website and a database technology company).

Indy isn't for everyone. I say go where you have to to get what you want.

[Brushfire]

I Would be down to do a HN meetup as well. I had no idea about the ruby meeting... which is awesome.

I know at least 2-3 people which might come to either/both depending on timing/schedules.

Anyone have a good idea for organizing this? Not to re-invent the 'meetup.com' wheel, but perhaps we could create a mini "HN Fans Meetup" web app, that would benefit not only people in Indy but also any other state that isnt CA or MA..

Edit: I live near Broad Ripple, so pretty much anywhere that isnt Greenwood or Westfield is game. Even then, I'll probably come. :)

Brian

[mlLK]

Wow. Awesome thread. This is really encouraging to read given that I also thought I was all alone out here in Indiana. I gotta about one year left to get my degree at IUPUI, which honestly just feels like a waste of time and money, but would loved to involved in something local like this. Maybe we can start a news-letter or something for starters? I dunno, you tell me, just lemme in. BTW, I'm in Fishers. =/

[brent]

I'm also near Broad Ripple. Was a YC interviewee and now a graduate student in Bloomington.

[profgubler]

Mileszs, I am all about having a HN meetup in Indy. That would be great. It could really help people brainstorm and make the right connections. I think as the economy drags, you will see more of the programmers at places like Interactive Intelligence and others wanting to create a startup.

[mileszs]

I'd love an email from anyone interested in attempting to organize some sort of meet-up. See my profile. (I'm down to help organize something, but I'm quite green. Does such a meet-up need an agenda?)

[jreilly]

Let me know if a Indy HN meetup ever forms. I will definitely be up for it. Right now I live right downtown and work up in Carmel.

[FraaJad]

I think there are sufficient people on this thread who are in/around Indy to have a HN meet. Count me in if this is happening.

BTW, I live in Carmel and telecommute to San-Fran.

[Brushfire]

I forgot to mention... There are two saving points for Indy that help it a little:

1 - IU Bloomington (not far) was ranked the #1 Public University (#2 Overall) for Entrepreneurship in the country. There are lots of people down there that are trying neat things and are willing to help startups.

2 - The cost of starting a startup here is retarded low. I can get full office space with utilities included for <$500/mo for a small slace or <$1000 for a medium/large space. You wont find that anywhere. Employment costs are lower, living expenses, training costs, infrastructure costs, etc -- all lower.

Still, it wont help you that much since there are very few people in the midwest with startup mentality. And finding '1st' customers here is a real pain. I had my last startup here and we had the biggest problem convincing someone to even spend 3 minutes to try something new. There is a conservatism at work that shuns new things until they are 'proven'. Most successful software/startup companies in the midwest still find their first customers on the coasts.

[tptacek]

Those office space costs are comparable to Chicago. Indy is smaller and less desireable, but there's much more supply in Chicago.

[Brushfire]

I don't buy it. Sure you can get space at those rates in any of the suburbs -- but downtown? Really? If so, could you point me in a couple of directions? I'm not trying to be snide -- I'm honestly interested.

The rent I'm talking about for Indy is downtown (not that it matters in indy). If I went to the Indy Suburbs, I could probably get it cheaper... Almost free probably for trade of some sort.

But driving in Chicago is a real pain, and I wouldnt want to live in the suburbs and/or have to commute there.

[tptacek]

Our offices are at Jackson and Federal, in the Monadnock building. I live in Oak Park; the Blue Line spits me out at the door of my office.

Joel Spolsky wrote an article on finding office space:

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/OfficeNewYork.html

If you're running up against really expensive space, you may be falling into the trap of trying to buy "class A" space, or space that's jacked up because of "amenities" you don't care about.

[jreilly]

Brushfire, good to hear that I am not the only one. I graduated from Duke this May and moved to Indy because I knew a bunch of people here and it is so cheap. I had no idea what I wanted to do but figure I would try it out for a year. Pretty miserable.

Funny that you should mention ChaCha because when I got here the most intriguing opportunities I could find were with Scott Jones' companies (founder of ChaCha). I recently started working for SAJE and GalaxiaLighting.com, two of his newer companies, but am holding my judgment until I am there a little longer. I have a feeling I may be on my way out of here when my lease runs up next summer unless something changes. Scott is a serial entrepreneur who is trying to bring the spirit to Indiana through his companies and foundations but progress seems to be slow.

[breck]

I graduated from Duke in '07 and lived in Cambridge for a year. Moved to SanFran in September. I'm learning at an order of magnitude faster rate, earning an order of magnitude more, building an order of magnitude more professional relationships...should I go on?

I also love the quality of life out here and live frugally, much cheaper than in Boston.

I would not walk, RUN, here from Indy. If you do, there's also a very solid group of Duke Tech entrepreneurs out here that meet regularly.

[Brushfire]

Breck

This is a good point. I'm leaving Indy at some point -- but it is very hard to move from Indy (low cost of living) to SFC or any coast (high cost of living). Especially considering the (current) lack of jobs coming on the market these days.

Given the market, I think the good plan is to either Move there if you know someone to crash with and try to find a job, but if you dont, try to do your own thing and build some resume credibility (read create some web apps or commit some code to something notable) and try again in 6 months.

[breck]

My resume was sparse because I've been doing pretty much all freelance work since graduation. Didn't hurt at all. There are hundreds of jobs out here for good developers.

My cost of living per month is about $2k. It's what you make it. I would try to save up $2k-4k and make the move. If you can't make it happen in 1 or 2 months, make sure you have enough to get a plane ride home.

[pgebhard]

Pratt '07 here...where's your contact info?

[Brushfire]

Interesting. Please dont take this the wrong way, but my opinion of Scott is that he is terribly smart, but cant find anything to focus on for more than a year. So he continually starts companies, raises money based on his name, and then forgets them after a bit, and moves on. Perhaps this isnt fair/true, its just the impression that his history gives off.

Either way, good luck.

[jreilly]

At this point I think he has something like 8 companies that he is founder of that he is hasn't sold. I can't argue with the terribly smart part but as I have had very minimal interaction with him I am reserving my opinion for a little farther down the line. Even if what you say is true it has been clear to me that he is willing to give a lot of responsibility to those who show promise so I am going to see what his companies may have to offer in Indiana. It is true that there are not enough hours in the day for him to focus completely on all the companies which is why I have not had much interaction with him yet. Do let me know though if you see any interesting startups in the area or want to bounce some ideas around.

[mlLK]

http://interactions.net ; you might find interesting. Their most accessible client for the public is Hot Box Pizza. If you've ever ordered a pizza from them you are using their product.

[mileszs]

There's an event called "Indy Startup Weekend" coming up in December: http://indianapolis.startupweekend.com/

[mlLK]

40 whoopers per session!?

[mileszs]

I thought it read $40, total, for the whole weekend. Right? http://indystartupweekend.eventbrite.com/

When compared to the Ruby conferences I've priced, that seems dirt cheap.

[mlLK]

Ok, never mind then; ticket type just confused me.