Techie's Dilemma: Silicon Valley vs. NYC

After spending the last few years traveling the world, it seems almost every major city is an aspiring tech hub these days. No matter where I go, the locals tell me the same thing: the government has recognized the importance of tech entrepreneurship, and they're taking major steps to encourage it there. The obvious archetype for these places is Silicon Valley in California, but there's a Silicon Something-or-Other just about everywhere I visit: Silicon Alley in New York, Silicon Roundabout in London, even Silicon Savannah in Kenya. After months of trying to figure out where I should move next, the only obvious conclusion was that each place had its own pros and cons. In this series, I'll take a lens to each of the cities I considered and the facts that ultimately led me to my decision.

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New York, I'm all in.

Or alternatively, taking the Kenya option off the table.

That's right. You heard it here first. After two arduous months pounding the pavements, I've decided to take the plunge and stay in New York despite the continued job uncertainty. Looking back on when I arrived, I assumed that it would be difficult for me to break into the startup world here. After all, I haven't lived in the US for over two years, and I haven't worked in New York since the summer of 2008. A long time ago. But in the weeks since, I've gotten to speak with a number of exceptional companies, and to my great surprise, they've all been happy to meet me. But the largest moral of the story is that timing has played a much bigger role than I anticipated. No one seems to argue my qualifications or credentials – whether or not they need a product manager at that given moment is a thornier issue. In retrospect, it makes perfect sense. I've picked a role for myself where there's one of me to every five to ten engineers. Startups only need a PM at a very specific point in their life cycles. So after a great deal of thought and soul searching, I've finally decided to stay and see how it plays out.

It's Official: We're Living in the Future

A few days ago, while an old friend was visiting NY, I made the trek up to the Upper East Side to visit him at his brother's place. It was wonderful to meet his family, especially his very new little nephew. I don't see very many babies these days, so seeing how the little guy interacted with his grandmother made me remark to myself, "Wow, we're really living in the future." When I was growing up, cell phones didn't exist, and email was a largely unused technology. If a family member lived a long distance away, you got to see them a few times a year. The only middle ground was an expensive long distance phone call.

Big Decisions: First Thoughts on NYC

As some of you likely know, I've finally finished my travels, landed in New York, and begun the final step in my transition to whatever's next. I've been in New York for the last week, and I feel like I've gotten a good early impression about the tech scene here, life in NYC as a young adult, and what it would mean to be back "home". So here goes, my first thoughts on the big apple, the closest thing I have to a home, New York City.

The Traveler's Curse

Whether it was the time I lived in a bookshop in Paris or when I saw the sun rise over Africa after climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, the stories I tell often give people the impression that my life over the last few years has been nothing but joy and excitement. And while the excitement bit may be true, as any experienced traveler will tell you, the journey has its own hardships that most people (myself included) don't tend to realize until they've done it. When I get that look in my eyes of longing for a place to settle down, even for just a year or two, I have a hard time expressing why such a concept is important to me at this point in my life. But recently a friend sent me a story he found online that I feel sums up these experiences really well. So, for your reading pleasure...

Big Decisions: First Thoughts on Nairobi

As some of you know, I'm currently in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, to investigate potential job opportunities and the prospect of moving here for a significant amount of time. It's only been four days since I arrived (out of a total of two weeks), so my impressions are still being formed, but for now, here are a few of my early observations.

Making the "Right Choice"

The start of September marks the end of my summer of respite, and as a result, the beginning of my job search in earnest. I have lots of potential roads ahead of me: moving back to the developing world and establishing myself as a technology expert there, joining a more conventional small tech company in Silicon Valley or New York, going back to one of the big hitters like Google, or something entirely different. And so, for the last few weeks, I've had the question on my mind: How will I know if the choice I make is the right one?