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Ask HN: How is the tech scene in LA?

14 points asdev | 2 comments | 07 Jul 25 00:21 UTC | HN request time: 0.405s | source

Wondering how the tech jobs/startup ecosystem is in Los Angeles. From searching around, seems like only aerospace/defense startups and big tech. Hardly any startups. The Who's Hiring thread from this month only had 2 entries from LA.
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dgunay ◴[08 Jul 25 19:21 UTC] No.44503151[source]▶
It doesn't have as big of a pure software startup scene. I have worked for a couple, but the bulk of my career has been either in the local defense industry, or working remote for a startup in another state.

A lot of people are responding with complaints or praise for life in general in LA. That wasn't part of your question so I'll just keep it brief; on the whole, I dislike living here and feel it is one of America's most mismanaged cities but cannot just pack up and leave for various social reasons.

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1. askafriend ◴[08 Jul 25 20:41 UTC] No.44503897[source]▶
Doesn't every city feel mismanaged though? If you asked people from SF, Seattle or NYC - they might all say the same. They'd think they were the most mismanaged in America.

I'm genuinely just curious what makes you think LA is uniquely mismanaged in a way that other tier-1 cities in America are not. I don't have too much experience with LA but am familiar enough.

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2. dgunay ◴[09 Jul 25 08:46 UTC] No.44507665[source]▶
Maybe "mismanaged" is too harsh. LA's patchwork governmental structure generally inhibits progress and keeps wealth and development concentrated in small areas instead of benefiting the broader metropolitan area. That's part of why you can go a few blocks in LA and your surroundings will change dramatically, often for the worse.

LA is top 1-5 in US cities by GDP (and to be fair so are the others you mentioned except for Seattle), so I personally see it as a hugely negative mark on our local and national character to have large parts of it be dirty, choked to death by traffic, have insanely high rents, etc. I don't know if other cities have quite as many structural aberrations in their governance as LA despite seeing many of the same issues - I don't know whether it would relieve or horrify me to learn that they don't.