The West Coast Guide to Tech StartUps

                A decade ago, only a few US cities could truly call themselves ‘tech hubs.’ Now lots of local governments are investing to bring fresh talent into their cities, and the results are palpable. There has been a renaissance of technology districts sprouting up all across America, many of which are fostering their own unique tech startup cultures. That’s why, over the next four weeks, CyberCoders will be bringing you our official regional guide to knowing your tech startup culture, starting with the West.

Silicon Valley

When the average American thinks of a tech startup, odds are they’re thinking about one in Silicon Valley. Home to some of the hottest and biggest startups in the world right now, San Francisco and the surrounding suburbs like Palo Alto have been the historical and current uncontended nucleus of the modern tech boom in America. With companies like Google, Apple, Facebook, and Tesla, all with their corporate headquarters located here, it’s fair to say that Silicon Valley has been, and still is, the number one startup region in the United States.

In fact, all startup tech-culture, in some form or another, owes its roots to the bay area. Popular stories of East Coast Ivey league Grads, and Stanford alumni, spending their days writing code and building mainframes in their garages, went on to inspire a new generation of tech entrepreneurs across the country. The laid back counter-corporate philosophy that accompanied many of the early tech innovators have since become a cultural hallmark of the entire tech industry.

All of this has culminated into one of the most fascinating, competitive, and innovative startup scenes anywhere in the world. Silicon Valley is the land of the billion dollar startups! Silicon Valley is where anyone truly serious about creating or working for the next tech ‘unicorn’ company that takes the tech world by storm should be.

Greater Los Angeles Area

The greater Los Angeles area is having a moment, and it’s in a big way. Historically driven by commuter culture and the entertainment industry, a host of Los Angeles based startups have not only gone big, but their success has inspired a wave of new tech startups that have been accompanied by increases in funding resources. Recent notable LA startups include Beats, Nasty Gal, Whisper, Tinder, and Snapchat.

Aside from Los Angeles itself, the tech traffic has also settled in two other cities in the Los Angeles area. Irvine, a city in Orange County, located 50 miles south of Downtown LA, is home to a number of well-known tech companies like Blizzard and Oculus Rift. It is not uncommon for young tech professionals to commute from the city to the suburbs, or from the suburbs to the city. It’s fair to say the OC tech culture is an extension of the growing LA scene.

Las Vegas, also called the backyard playground of LA, has recently made BIG moves toward inspiring their local startup culture. With investment support like the Vegas Tech Fund, the hundred plus million dollar capital funds are revitalizing North Vegas, bringing droves of young, educated, working professionals to the once abandoned historic downtown district and the Vegas arts district.

Northwest

Seattle has been a staple of west coast and Washington State start-up culture for many years. This has partly been due the presence of larger tech companies like Microsoft and Amazon. However, in recent years, the tech sector has been expanding. A host of new startups have recently decided to call Seattle their home. The ‘locally grown’ foodie scene, beautiful green landscape, attractive city living, and steady stream of qualified young tech professionals has made Seattle a very attractive area to build a startup.

Not to be outdone, Oregon’s Portland also boasts a pretty robust startup sector as well. Schools like Portland Stand University and their college of Engineering and Computer Science or University of Portland’s STEM Center, tout some of the most gifted young tech talent in the region. Notable Portland companies include Puppet Labs, the brain company behind Puppets IT automation software.

Stay tuned for part two in our series next Thursday, The Midwest Guide to Tech StartUps .