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Ask HN: The CEO wants a rural office, I want an urban one, how do we decide?

4 points by throwaway2016a ↗ HN
My CEO wants to open an office in a rural area an hour outside the city. I want to open the office closer to the city.

My argument is that even though the rent is higher we will be able to attract better talent. His argument is that the lower cost of living in the rural area will attract talent.

Neither of us is unbiased. I live in the city and the CEO lives in the rural town.

What is some objective data and / or articles we can review to help us make an informed non-emotional decision?

For context:

I'm the CTO and most of the employees for the next year will report to me.

This is not the bay area.

7 comments

[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 31.5 ms ] thread
amyjess
Where is the rural area located in relation to the suburbs--that is, is it on the same side or the opposite side from middle-to-upper-middle-class suburbs with an educated population? Is it truly rural or in an exurb? How are the suburbs growing--that is, can you expect the suburbs to swallow up the rural area the CEO is looking at?

Edited to add: how close is the nearest university to the rural area?

throwaway2016a
The rural location is close to some decent liberal arts colleges but much further away from engineering colleges.

The suburbs won't swallow the rural area any time soon. As it is the city has a lot of room to grow before the suburbs start expanding.

To be clear too... the rural area isn't even in the suburbs. It is further than that.

DoreenMichele
This will depend in part on the kind of work you do.

If it were me, I would look for some articles on businesses that chose to locate in rural areas and thrived. Then look for articles about the type of business you want to create that thrived and pay close attention to anything they say about what factors were important to their success.

Silicon Valley started as a lovely area and Stanford decided to foster tech businesses there. I think there was a lotto farmland out there at the time, but you should double check that. Now, SFBA is so expensive that some people don't want to live and work there. A lot of talent is moving to places like Seattle and Austin because it is just too crazy in the Bay Area.

I had a class on economic geography. Specific businesses need access to specific things in order to succeed. You basically need to list what things the business has need of and pick a location that fulfills those criteria. Some things that might matter:

A nearby college.

Critical infrastructure, such as high speed internet.

Transit and shipping options pertinent to your needs.

Research facilities, chamber of commerce or other business support.

This needs to be a business decision. Either location may work, but you need to pick it based on needs of the business.

throwaway2016a
Thank you for your feedback!

> This will depend on part on the kind of work you do.

We're a SaaS.

> A nearby college.

The city is closer to the engineering colleges, the rural area is closer to the liberal arts colleges.

> Research facilities, chamber of commerce or other business support.

That is definitely one of the factors I want to use to express my view. Both locations have great Chambers of Commerce but the city has (rough guess) 30x more businesses in it.

DoreenMichele
We're a SaaS.

Make a list of what you need for that. Obviously, coders. But that won't be all. I am a writer, not a programmer. I am not familiar. But find out what that typically entails. Read articles on successful versions, the more similar to your area, the better.

The city is closer to the engineering colleges, the rural area is closer to the liberal arts colleges.

Do a more thorough assessment of what sorts of resources each college has. Just the type of college is not enough information. Find out what kinds of other things they have. Do they do internships with local businesses? Does one have a business incubator? Do they work with the local SBA? Catalog everything that may be pertinent to your business.

but the city has (rough guess) 30x more businesses in it.

Is this a B2B SaaS? If so, that may be really important.

Since you are in the city, one thing you can do is start putting in some face time at local meetings of various sorts and making contacts. It takes time to develop a business relationship. Start now. It may not pay off, but if it is going to pay off, the sooner you start, the better.

legitster
The smart money is on the city. It's what everyone else does - why make waves? But I don't think that going rural is without merit. Having lived and worked in a big city my whole career, I can't help but feel that employers setting up shop in expensive places just helps to drive up inequality. As a drone, I never get to enjoy the finer points of city living, and just pass off my paycheck to the landlord.

Also, don't underestimate the benefits of rural towns. Small town America has been decimated over the last decade. Any source of decent salary is worshiped, and you may find your company and employees get to enjoy real ownership of their environment.

On the other hand, I've never heard the cost of living being a huge driver in talent. You would need to recruit farther and wider, and probably pay relocation expenses. But I imagine the people who take it will be much more loyal. And there is a huge contingent of people in the tech space that love the country and are under-served by the job market.

billconan
I grew up in a metropolis. I worked in San Francisco downtown. I hated it. I had to take the train for 40 minutes to work. The train didn't feel safe. I had to leave at a certain time everyday or I will miss the train back home. The city was chaotic and noisy. Couldn't find parking if you want to drive. If I had a choice, I'd pick the rural area. The success of a business requires intense focus. I'd prefer a quiet place to focus on the work.

I never understand why so many startups like San Francisco. I talked to some people, they seem to like the night life there. IMO, they are not sincere entrepreneurs.