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Ask HN: Why does Seattle feel so risk-averse compared to the Bay Area?

6 points by annyma ↗ HN
Today I posted about an AI startup project I’m working on — zero salary, very early stage, “build for passion.” Dozens of people reached out, but almost all were from the Bay Area. Zero from Seattle.

It made me wonder: why does Seattle’s tech culture feel so optimized for W2/RSUs/stability, while the Bay feels wired for risk-taking and possibility?

Is it just my experience, or have others noticed the same cultural gap?

5 comments

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stathibus
There are no zoomer coders drinking YC koolaid and moving to seattle with a backpack and a dream. Seattle is where you go to live a regular american upper-middle class life.
tobinfekkes
On the flip side, is there any evidence that there should not be a gap between those two cities? Why is it surprising that there is a gap? It seems like that's expected.
yellowcake0
apparently Seattleites have more sense
taurath
Could just be that people in the Bay Area are more absurdly wealthy so they have a higher risk appetite… risk tolerance tends to correlate directly with wealth and security - nobody taking zero salary is doing so in leu of food and shelter.
fzwang
That's pretty normal. The culture in the Bay area is quite unique in the early suppression of any "common"/status-quo sense. So even silly/"stupid" ideas are entertained.

If you're building anywhere else, I think you have to be more active in curating who you surround yourself with. Most other people are on salaries building/supporting businesses that are proven with low risk, so their mindset to life is quite different. There are risk takers in any city, but it takes more effort to find them.

When I worked in VC, I really enjoyed talking to builders from "unlikely" places, middle of nowhere Kansas, Atlantic Canada etc. They had to overcome much more social resistance to work on their ideas.