Recently at Stanfy, we’ve made a bold move toward Silicon Valley by opening our representative unit in San Francisco. Since then, we have received a lot of questions about why we selected San Francisco and Silicon Valley instead of New York or even London?
Robert Scoble, an American blogger, technical evangelist, and author, did a great job outlining the types of things that give you an advantage when you are building business in the US.
So, we’ve decided to write our own 10 reasons why you should consider the San Francisco Bay Area for your tech business.
1) Working in the tech industry is the norm. You will find that a lot of people around you work in the tech industry and understand a lot about it.
2) It offers a startup ecosystem that is full of entrepreneurs, investors, lawyers, design and consulting firms of all sizes and specialties. It is helpful when people understand the types of things you are doing, so that you don’t need to explain the basics of how the software business works.
3) The best engineers and professionals in tech industry are here. Think about apps and the sites you are using each day—a big percentage of them was developed and designed in California. That includes Apple, Google, Facebook, Oracle and others.
4) Networking and Educational opportunity. Each day is full of meetups, conferences and classes about trending technologies, services, approaches and tools you need to build a successful business.
5) Innovators and early adopters are here. In fact, many of them utilize new top-notch services from local startups. San Francisco is like a big test suite for tech innovations.
6) Hardware expertise is here. A lot of people here are engaged in the production side for big and small companies. You can easily find and speak with them to get useful advice on your project or idea.
7) Everyone dreams about startups. You can hear about it from your landlord or at a chance encounter at a bar.
8) US market. One language, one currency and one culture. It is easier to get innovators and early adopters who can pay for your service here than anywhere else. In this market, you will have more chances to spread your product/service and build a good business.
9) The most influential tech press is here. It is much easier to be exposed to some tech blogger or editors here. If you have something awesome that is worth noticing, it is much easier in the Bay Area to ensure that it will be mentioned.
10) In-person contact and being in a US time zone matters. When you deal with US businesses from Europe, you face a 10-hour time difference with San Francisco and a seven-hour gap with New York. Being in the San Francisco Bay Area saves you time and makes you more reliable for your local partners.
We hope it was helpful for you to learn our top 10 reasons for choosing the San Francisco Bay Area for your tech company. Feel free to post any suggestions and your thoughts on the topic in the comments below.