Exactly what I was going to say! Calif is a terrible place to go and scout out talent, unless they're also trying to raise visibility in the same shot.

I'd suggest they go to the east coast instead.

SFBA is a better place if you're willing to offer above market (or find someone who wants to leave the Bay Area), specifically to hire a couple of experienced people who can be the core of a company, or who have specific technical expertise. Basically this is the same pool as startup founders.

My startup is in SFBA. I'd love to be in Seattle or Austin instead (I like guns; taxes are secondary consideration; and I'd love a 5k ft2 house), but from a hiring perspective, it's easier to find people who have already done something successful in the bay area.

Maybe set up a second US office for development in one of those two later, but initially, it's hard to beat SFBA. (I guess I'm in the "boring enterprise software" space, at least more so than Facebook, but less so than SAP).

Recruiting from elsewhere (especially Boston/Cambridge) makes a lot of sense, but people are generally more willing to relo to SF than to either Seattle or Austin, at least from my experience.

This explains what they're looking for, but not why it's location dependent. Sfba is a startup hub, but that dosnt mean that talent doesn't exist elsewhere! What's the successful metric? Part of a startup? Founder? Product principal?

Admittedly, I may be slightly biased here because I wonder why much of the east coast tends to get marginalized when talking about startup activity. (I'm in Philly)

Looking for: * deeply knowledgeable and passionate about computer security * adequate developer (ideally in Python, C/C++, but specific languages don't matter) -- would take better developer and less experienced (but still interested in) security; ideally everyone is great at both the security/audit/ops side and the dev side, but a team with everyone having a different mix is most realistic * compatible long-term goals which are explicit; if someone wants to use this to become a great startup founder in 1-2y, i'd be fine with that and then introducing to investors, or someone who wants a 10y+ job, but being explicit about desires seems essential, in exchange for the company being honest about status, long-term potential, etc. * cultural fit: able to get along with the team, and also compatible with "how startups work" -- easier if someone's been part of a successful product launch at a startup in a similar role

There are way more of those people in the bay area (although, many more jobs, too) than in Philly (I am from suburban philadelphia myself). Recruiting from enterprises might be ok for employees 20+, but not as good on the cultural fit issues for #1-10.

NYC is basically out (they are a net importer); Boston is a major source; philadelphia, atlanta, north carolina, etc. might be minor sources, and DC is probably a net importer.

I'd relo candidates from places like that (we can't really do remote yet), but wouldn't personally want to set up an office anywhere but SFBA, Seattle, Austin, a few non-US places, or unfortunately DC-Metro (I hate DC Metro myself, but in the long run, it's necessary; not sure if MD, VA, DC makes the most sense).

Appreciate the insight! Makes the organizations like Dreamit Ventures and the university business incubators even more important in my eyes. We've got the developer talent, but more lacking in the xp of 'how startups work'.

I think internships/coop are more important; if you were e.g. a Waterloo student who spent 2y of 5y working for Facebook, Amazon, Google, or small great startups, you'd be in a good position to start a startup (or work for an early stage one) locally.