I can't disagree with much you've said. I was born and raised in San Jose. For most of my life, San Francisco was always been the place I thought was fun to visit, but didn't want to live in. I live here now and it's better than I thought, but I still have issues.
Crime -- As far as big cities go, New York & San Francisco are both abnormally safe. They regularly rank as two of the safest large cities in the country.
Food -- They both have a diverse selection of awesome food.
Beauty -- San Francisco is nestled in one of the most beautiful parts of the Bay Area. The scenery is awesome. The city is way too dirty though. I'm very liberal, but San Francisco is too liberal even for me. The city has a problem with litter which it needs to address, but the bigger problem is the homelessness. San Francisco actually has a homeless lobby whose actions ensure that homelessness remains a problem. They believe people have the right to be homeless, live on the street, and panhandle (frequently in ways that strikes fear into the heart of tourists). There are plenty of humane policies that can help reduce this problem, but the city is so liberal that policies like "Care Not Cash" are shouted down as if they were modern day Nuremberg Laws.
Hipsters/Wannabes/Bohemians/etc. -- Definitely can go too far and be annoying at times, but its also part of the culture of San Francisco that I can find charming. Like everything: in moderation. New York has its own version of this though -- the "I'm richer than you" syndrome -- the incessant need to buy ridiculously priced clothes, hand bags, accessories (women AND men), the name dropping, the pretentiousness, etc. Get over yourself.
Too laid back -- Probably. New York can be too high strung. I enjoy both in moderation.
Weather -- Wow. I'd much rather have SF's moderate weather, even if it is a little chilly at times, than NYC's hot, humid summers and cold, icy winters. But if SF gets too chilly for you, you're almost always a short drive away from a micro-climate that's beautiful.
Dating -- Well I can't complain as a gay guy. It doesn't get much better than SF. We have a few great spots in the whole country and I'm fortunate to live in one of them.
Some things I think you left out --
Blunt & Rude Honesty vs. Nice Dishonesty -- As a Bay Area native, one of the things I absolutely love about NYC is people's blunt honesty, even if it is rude at times. At least you know where you stand with people. On the West Coast, people will smile & pretend like they like you or agree with you, even if they don't. And then when you leave, they'll talk about you behind your back. This can be especially painful in the startup world when you're raising money and few will tell you the real reason why they're not convinced by your pitch.
Proximity to Destinations -- San Francisco is anywhere from minutes to just a couple hours away from beaches, beautiful mountains and camping spots, skiing, the best wine country in the U.S., legendary national parks, etc.
Suit vs. Jeans/T-Shirt/Hoodie -- I much prefer SF's dress code to NYC's.
Diversity -- Yes, both cities are very diverse. But I think San Francisco is more of a melting pot. New York seems like it still has neighborhoods that are very stratified racially/ethnically.
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Anyways, I really love both cities for different reasons and I don't think I have a favorite. I hope someday I'll be able to move to New York and really live in it.
Not really. For VC's perhaps that is the case, but for angels: $1 MM raised at a $3 MM pre, 2.5 years of work, and a (let's say) $12 MM median sale price? I think everyone is decently happy.
This model fits with the ever-shrinking capital requirements to launch a tech company. Conversely, portfolio strategies that rely on huge exits (and huge investments) are increasingly threatened.
$1M at a $3M pre with a $12M acquisition means I'm getting a 3X return on my investment. Now that's certainly better than losing it altogether, but I think almost all angels would admit they'd be pretty disappointed in that outcome.
It has nothing to do with jobs programs/corporate welfare. Remember there were security people before the TSA (just not as many) and the TSA was created in the post-9/11 panic.
This, like most aviation security, is just security-theater. The American people were scared and so elected officials, realizing they couldn't realistically secure aviation, come up with a bunch of "procedures" that's supposed to make the general public feel more comfortable. In the end, it's about votes.
There is clothing that's desgigned for very quick removal. But I am quite sure wou would be in a lot of trouble for a stunt like that before everything gets sorted out.
This came up in a thread a while back (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1483667). Bottom line is that "MM" comes from the banking/finance world. In banking, $3M actually means $3,000 and $3MM means $3,000,000.
Sounds like someone's a little bitter about an API usage dispute and a poached employee.
He brings up legitimate, but minor issues that are just a part of Twitter's growing pains. Let's be honest, the background customization has never been a huge selling point for Twitter. Sure its fun, but most people use Twitter via mobile clients & txt messaging and never see the backgrounds. I think I've seen the backgrounds of maybe 10 of the people I follow.
The #newtwitter rate limiting is an annoying issue they need to resolve, but they'll resolve it. They're still ironing out the #newtwitter kinks.
Crime -- As far as big cities go, New York & San Francisco are both abnormally safe. They regularly rank as two of the safest large cities in the country.
Food -- They both have a diverse selection of awesome food.
Beauty -- San Francisco is nestled in one of the most beautiful parts of the Bay Area. The scenery is awesome. The city is way too dirty though. I'm very liberal, but San Francisco is too liberal even for me. The city has a problem with litter which it needs to address, but the bigger problem is the homelessness. San Francisco actually has a homeless lobby whose actions ensure that homelessness remains a problem. They believe people have the right to be homeless, live on the street, and panhandle (frequently in ways that strikes fear into the heart of tourists). There are plenty of humane policies that can help reduce this problem, but the city is so liberal that policies like "Care Not Cash" are shouted down as if they were modern day Nuremberg Laws.
Hipsters/Wannabes/Bohemians/etc. -- Definitely can go too far and be annoying at times, but its also part of the culture of San Francisco that I can find charming. Like everything: in moderation. New York has its own version of this though -- the "I'm richer than you" syndrome -- the incessant need to buy ridiculously priced clothes, hand bags, accessories (women AND men), the name dropping, the pretentiousness, etc. Get over yourself.
Too laid back -- Probably. New York can be too high strung. I enjoy both in moderation.
Weather -- Wow. I'd much rather have SF's moderate weather, even if it is a little chilly at times, than NYC's hot, humid summers and cold, icy winters. But if SF gets too chilly for you, you're almost always a short drive away from a micro-climate that's beautiful.
Dating -- Well I can't complain as a gay guy. It doesn't get much better than SF. We have a few great spots in the whole country and I'm fortunate to live in one of them.
Some things I think you left out --
Blunt & Rude Honesty vs. Nice Dishonesty -- As a Bay Area native, one of the things I absolutely love about NYC is people's blunt honesty, even if it is rude at times. At least you know where you stand with people. On the West Coast, people will smile & pretend like they like you or agree with you, even if they don't. And then when you leave, they'll talk about you behind your back. This can be especially painful in the startup world when you're raising money and few will tell you the real reason why they're not convinced by your pitch.
Proximity to Destinations -- San Francisco is anywhere from minutes to just a couple hours away from beaches, beautiful mountains and camping spots, skiing, the best wine country in the U.S., legendary national parks, etc.
Suit vs. Jeans/T-Shirt/Hoodie -- I much prefer SF's dress code to NYC's.
Diversity -- Yes, both cities are very diverse. But I think San Francisco is more of a melting pot. New York seems like it still has neighborhoods that are very stratified racially/ethnically.
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Anyways, I really love both cities for different reasons and I don't think I have a favorite. I hope someday I'll be able to move to New York and really live in it.