Hey Folks Just spent about a month in the USA and thought I would give a small report on a few random findings etc in case it may be useful to someone.
1) New York's tech scene is powering ahead, I think with a few more exits from NYC based companies, NY will have as much tech start up cred as the bay area. Over the last 3 years of visiting I have noticed a significant pick up in momentum re New York start up tech. 2) There is a group of tech/start-up aussies in NY that meet regularly called DUNY (down under new york) - http://www.meetup.com/downunder-newyork/ 3) It is always worth finding a conference in SF or NYC - to showcase or attend, I always get great value out of conferences there. 4) AT&T offer the best deal for prepaid phones whilst you are there, $50 per month for unlimited talk and text, you have to add a dataplan on top of this. If your phone is quad band but still not the right frequency you will not get 3g but the slower edge network. 5) Virgin mobile offer some pre-paid mobile internet options, even though wifi is ubiquitous in SF/NY etc, it is really worth having a backup particularly if you are meeting investors, clients, showcasing at a conference etc. 6) If you are staying a week or more at a place craigslist and airbnb are your friend, you can find sublets at a fraction of the cost of hotels and much more comfortable, does require a lot of emailing and follow ups though. 7) Yelp.com is your friend in the USA to find restaurants, bars, cafes etc. 8) Having business cards, itineraries etc on arrival in us can help if you get a little unlucky with immigration grilling you for some reason. 9) May be stating the obvious but most investors still aren't interested in investing in early stage start-ups outside of the US, sometimes even outside of the East / West coast. 10) Get used to the fact that when you tell most Americans that you are from Australia they will respond with "Awesome, I have always wanted to go to New Zealand" - a good reply is "that is cool, I have always wanted to go to Canada!" - but for the most part Americans are open, warm, friendly, trustworthy, smart, and helpful - but they are fascinated with NZ though. 11) LA also has a pretty solid tech scene, but don't even try to get around without a car. 12) I really recommend if you haven't been to the US before that you do it, I really get a lot of inspiration, new perspectives etc each time I go. 13) When getting quotes on hotels, remember to ask them to include tax, some places like LA have 2/3 taxes they add on AFTER quoting you, same with car hire, no insurance (including 3rd party!) is included. Hope that this helps. Kev http://twitter.com/ke_ga -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Visting http://siliconbeachaustralia.org for more Forum rules 1) No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. 2) No jobs postings. You can use http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/jobs To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en
