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Ask HN: How is the Portland web dev/startup scene?

9 points by larrykubin ↗ HN
I've been freelancing in Austin (doing mostly PHP and Python web development) for about 5 years now. After living in Texas my whole life (now 30), my wife and I are interested in relocating.

We visited Portland in March (to experience the rain) and it seemed like our kinda place. However, I don't know much about the web dev community over there. Are there many companies hiring? Startups? Agencies? Are interviews similar to Silicon Valley with lots of algorithms/data structures questions? I figure salary is similar to what you would get in Austin, but I always hear bad things about the job market in Portland, such as don't consider moving unless you already have a job lined up. Either way, I will probably sublet a room in late June/July to check it out. Anyone have the inside scoop?

9 comments

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scottkrager
As far as gigs/jobs, check out:

http://siliconflorist.com/jobs/

Salaries are on the lower end, but so is cost of living here. Lightbox to avoid SAD not included.

The Portland Seed Fund is launching this summer, which might bring some sexiness to the startup scene. COLORlovers just got 1mil and so did ShopIgnitor a few months back. So there is some action here for sure.

Portland is a big digital media agency town. Webtrends is here and lots of SEO/online marketing shops. GetClicky is here as well (go analytics!).

Not sure about interview questions.

I just hired a PHP dev strait from school at 50K/year. Hope that helps. Good luck.

larrykubin
Thank you very much for your insight.
thos3000
My wife and I also moved to Portland from Austin, so I have a bit of insight on this. First, let me point out that while the job market in general in Portland is still a bit sluggish, the tech job market seems relatively lively. I don't know any experienced, talented software developers who have been out of work for long. I know a number of them who are freelancing successfully, even, so that's possible here, but I would suggest that before you have built up a local network, it's likely not the best idea. If you are planning to visit here, I would search out the user groups and various technical "networking" groups ahead of time and get in touch. Sign up for their mailing lists, plan to attend as many meetings as you can while you're here and ask direct questions about the "scene."

As for interviews and salaries... salaries, at least in the areas I've paid attention to, are generally slightly higher than Austin (offset marginally by a very slightly higher cost of living here) but lower, in general, than you'd find in the bay area. Interviews are across the board as they are anywhere. Your best bet to find out what to expect for interviews is to find someone who works for the company and try to befriend them or at least get their opinion. These same rules really apply anywhere, honestly, so I hope I'm not telling you anything new.

As someone else mentioned, there are a lot of media/SEO related companies here, but there are also some interesting startups and more established companies in other areas, as well. As with my suggestion above, the best way to find out about the different companies is to talk to people who work there. Users group and (the old fashioned variety of) social networking are really your best opportunity to find out more about them.

Also, as with Austin, I've found that the people who do best in this community are the ones who are not afraid to cross bridges (sorry, slight pun on one of Portland's nicknames). That is, explore communities that maybe aren't directly in your area of experience. Whether that's the data visualization group, beer and blog (which isn't really all that much about blogging), or some group for a language you just barely even understand, give it a try and see who you meet. Chances are you'll start to see some of the same people around town. Seek these people out and get to know them -- they will be your best resource. If you're really determined to do well, get involved in organizing and planning of different events and groups. Before you know it, jobs will be coming to you.

larrykubin
Thank you very much. I appreciate the detailed response. Your tips and description are similar to what I expected and in line with how I would approach such a move. It's good to hear it from someone who actually lives there (that isn't a random city-data or Yelp poster looking for a minimum wage job).
thos3000
Glad to help. I hope the plans work out and that you find Portland to your liking. The only thing I miss from Austin (besides some of the food -- we have great food here, too, mind you, it's just different -- and my friends and family) is having a top rate university in the area. PSU is decent and there are some good smaller schools around (obviously Reed is great), but the number of world-class lectures that UT had, which were generally open to the public, was astounding. But it's a small price to pay for livability. Enjoy the change in scenery!
plamb
If you idle on freenode, hanging out in #pdxwebdev and #pdxhackathon is a good way to meet some developers here in Portland.