[ashwinaj]

I would also add that people the bay area in general, have a "let's get it done" attitude. In the south and mid west people are a lot more laid back and generally more interested in football, Bud light/Miller light/Coors light and liberal bashing rather than putting in all-nighters. It was an eye opening change when I moved to the SF bay area.

I maybe an exception to the stereotypical software engineer, but I work best around motivated people rather than people who are laid back all the time.

[thecoffman]

Wow, not only is this an entirely ignorant and untrue stereotype; it implies that putting in all-nighters for your job is a good thing which I think its fairly universally regarded as untrue.

[ashwinaj]

Well you better read my post again. I said "generally", not all of them are like that. Also the assumption is if you're putting all-nighters there is some reward in the end (money, stocks, recognition etc.). IMO I get more done during all-nighters than during the day and I'm not the only one in my team who does that.

[thecoffman]

Saying "generally" doesn't make it not ignorant or not a stereotype - in fact I'm pretty sure its just the opposite. "Generally, people in the midwest are beer swilling, liberal bashing layabouts" is pretty much the definition of a stereotype...

There is certainly nothing wrong with working at a time of day which is most productive for you, but the implication was that midwesterners were generally unwilling to put in a bunch of extra hours to "get it done." Not that they frowned upon people who liked to work at night.

I would argue, pretty strongly, that the culture of "kill yourself working a billion hours a week for your startup" is unhealthy physically, socially and mentally. Sure there is an outside chance that you hit it big and get fabulously wealthy. In the mean-time you pass up tons of actual real-life salary, benefits and vacation time that are tangible, usable, and increase your quality of life today. (Not to mention an actual retirement account, which most startups seems to neglect.)

[ashwinaj]

We cannot have an honest conversation since whatever I say is pigeon-holed to a stereotype. You might as well live in the mid west for a while and find out for yourself vs SV. In life, no one hands you a bunch of money for nothing. No startup guarantees anything, I assume most people are fully grown adults who are able to make rational choices fit for them. You can make your own choices in life and live with it and take responsibility.

[protomyth]

Not my experience. We may look laid back, but a lot of folks in the Midwest grew up around "get it done now" jobs. I see the attitude keeps even in other jobs not as time critical. It's a learned habit.

Out of politeness I'll leave you beer, etc. comments alone.

[belovedlasher]

Woah woah. As a St. Louisian, I'd like to point out that we have an amazing selection of craft breweries.

As for the other statements, come to a hackathon or a Startup Weekend and see how motivated we really are.