| There's not a lot of substance in the OP to back the claim "its Tech Community Is Going Strong"...and a lot of the individual assumptions/assertions made by the OP are kind of strange... > By some estimates, the city owes as much as $20 billion. But the news is unlikely to halt the growth of Detroit's burgeoning tech scene, according to some of its entrepreneurs. "according to some of its entrepreneurs"....if this is in the lede, I think it's safe to assume that the reporter isn't going to look at the big picture (i.e. the relative size of the tech startup boom compared to Detroit's job sector in general)... > "We are the Facebook or the Twitter of the area," Gierak says. "We can get unbelievably good people who are extremely talented and think we're the coolest job in town, as opposed to being the 550th coolest job in town back in San Francisco." I haven't been in the SF job market...but is the allure of being "Employee #single-digit" enough to outweigh a higher-paying job in a more amenable city? > Neverthless, the tech scene in Detroit does face challenges. The most recent Census data shows Detroit has just 11,000 young professionals between 25 and 34 who hold at least a bachelor's degree, compared to Chicago's 250,000. Michigan is one of four states that had fewer young professionals in 2011 than it did in 2006. "...does face challenges"...that's quite the buried understatement. Detroit has a relatively tiny pool of young professionals...at the same time, tech jobs seem to still be in hot demand in nearby Chicago. It's definitely possible that Midwest professionals would like the choice of staying in the Midwest, but how likely is it they'll pick Detroit over Chicago? This is not to counter the actual achievements of the Stik team, but it's unlikely the tech scene -- especially with startups focused on online remote services -- will have much factor at all in reversing Detroit's deterioration. Not through any fault of their own, but because of the sheer size of local revitalization needed. |
A significant minority of startups in Chicago just feel like a grind to get an exit and as a developer you're basically given the minimal amount of resources and asked to work the maximum amount of time achieve that goal. All the while some dude (it's usually a dude) is breathing down your neck asking you why isn't their vaguely specified, poorly thought-out product done yet- "Shouldn't this just be a simple 'if' statement?" (An 'if' statement! Of course! Thanks for being my muse, boss.)
You see a lot of entrepreneurs here who come from big consulting groups that don't really "get" tech and barely even grasp startups. They're kinda like tourists - they know there's a ton of opportunity in the sector, they're willing to take the risk to capitalize on it, but there's no real passion for technology. If it all goes bust they'll just go back to their old job at Accenture or wherever and use their brief foray as an entrepreneur as a feather in their cap as they climb the corporate ladder.
The effect of all this is that it tends to drive more technically-minded entrepreneurs or more hardcore dedicated biz types to take their businesses outside the city to places like SF, Austin and NYC. It also prevents us from drawing in people from Wisconsin and Michigan. What we're left with are a bunch of suits trying to bro-it-up with a startup until they finally surrender the last of their adolescence and go back to working for someone else.
and...Whew, rant over. That's the only reason I can think of why you'd do something in Detroit instead of Chicago.