Ask HN: Should I move to the valley?

I don't want you to take this personally, so I'm just going to dispense the standard advice for people with great ideas but without someone capable of building them: great ideas are a dime a dozen, and anyone with the ability and inclination to be a "tech cofounder" probably has their own ideas. Building your skills and making sure you have something to contribute other than a "great idea" is the best way to get something accomplished.

Well, valley or not, your idea needs to survive in the "real" world i.e. built and wanted by people. Do some homework on that and get crackin'. Be so good that they can't ignore you :-)

As about tech cofounders, that's a tricky one - it helps to have an intelligent tech friend who can perhaps help you find a good one. Like philwelch said, tech cofounders will have their own ideas and idiosyncrasies, but you have to clear from day one about what you bring to table. What can you offer them? Are you a sales genius? A kickass designer? Whatever it is, make sure your personal secret sauce is compelling enough.

"Should i move to the Valley for a while" Unless you have a decent cushion to blow for a while or are going to work to support yourself (where you can potentially find co-founders), don't sweat it.

I don't live in The Valley (tm), but I do live in a tech center (Boston area).

My impression:

The positives: lots of people doing tech entrepreneurial things, lots of talent, other startups to work with and learn from, entrepreneurial culture.

The negatives: I could fill an auditorium with phonies, con artists, and impostors... I suspect that The Valley is even worse. There are lots of "me-too!" ideas, lots of people with enormous egos who don't really know what they're doing, and lots of people who will BS you to try to get you to follow them or do work for them. Being jaded and skeptical is a requirement.

Edit: come to think of it, I have been to conferences and pitch-fest type things in The Valley, and the smell of fast talkers and such was palpable.

So there's lots of good stuff but also lots of noise.