[qodeninja]

Pay them a Silicon Valley salary, or you can hire someone from SF that loves LA, like me.

I wish there were better paying tech jobs in LA. I'd go in a heartbeat.

The biggest problem with wanna-be LA tech companies is that they havent figured out that the engineers are the rock stars and try to undercut them on salaries and perks. Good luck with that.

Maybe I'm generalizing.

Anyway, as a startup your challenge is immensely larger, not to say its impossible, but consider that all the talent is concentrated in the Bay for a reason -- then refactor your expectations.

I would suggest you develop your own prototype, pitch to investors and then move your office to San Jose, it'll at least be cheaper and youll have better access to engineers.

Excellent well-established engineers cost money, inexperienced and undiscovered ones can be lured if you are in the right location.

[panorama]

Agreed 100% - I work in SF but I'm not a fan of the city. Even after considering the higher cost of living, I'm pretty sure I make substantially more here than I would in LA. I'd love to move back to Southern California, though.

It's not just salary, but the types of companies in SF/SV just seem a lot more compelling, and are more often than not founded by people who 'bleed' tech. This might be a gross assumption but my feeling after being involved in the OC startups scene and talking/interviewing with LA startups is that the companies there are started by business guys looking to strike it rich with marginal tech DNA.

Consider these points and try to figure out how to differentiate from the typical LA wannabe-entrepreneur. Work on compelling problems (e.g. Oculus Rift, in Irvine), or just have an established culture of putting the tech first and don't be stingy. Good luck!

[elikami]

Definitely take your point to heart. We've bootstrapped this thing so far, but have recently started seed rounds to find money to pay the talent.

What's the going SV rate? including some equity/title included?

[qodeninja]

Engineering, depending on the discipline, is on the scale of 140-200k right now, which translates to $80-$100/hr

Also don't try to force traditional business rules like 9a-5pm hours, most engineers tend to have flexible hours, be more focused on outcomes than hours.

[Phlarp]

For co-founder caliber talent? $100/hr or equivalent. Minimum.

[notduncansmith]

Bare minimum. That's less than my consulting rate in Alabama, and it's not exactly Silicon Valley out here.

[Phlarp]

I feel like an hour of consulting work at that rate is slightly different. I personally wouldn't expect to bill for 2000 hours of work in a single year as a contractor.

As a technical co-founder, I would expect the full 200k/yr as salary, plus equity and a cash bonus if goals are met.