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

Question

Today I posted about an AI startup project I&rsquo;m working on &mdash; zero salary, very early stage, &ldquo;build for passion.&rdquo; Dozens of people reached out, but almost all were from the Bay Area. Zero from Seattle.It made me wonder: why does Seattle&rsquo;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?

stathibus · Accepted Answer

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 · Answer

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 · Answer

apparently Seattleites have more sense

taurath · Answer

Could just be that people in the Bay Area are more absurdly wealthy so they have a higher risk appetite&hellip; risk tolerance tends to correlate directly with wealth and security - nobody taking zero salary is doing so in leu of food and shelter.