It'd be an amazing experience to be surrounded by hackers (there aren't many here an hour outside Atlanta), and it's something I'd love to be able to put on my resume, but there's no way I can afford it while unemployed and going to college.
http://paulgraham.com/seesv.html
http://scobleizer.com/2010/10/04/silicon-valley-places-that-...
http://steveblank.com/2011/02/22/a-visitors-guide-to-silicon...
- Walk around Stanford because it's nice (esp. Quad area). For food, check out the commonly-admired Ike's place, and CoHo is an ok place to sit down and have a sandwich/coffee.
- Consider taking the hike up to the Dish above Stanford. The loop takes about 1 hr. There are two entrances and the road between the south entrance and the dish offers epic views of the entire valley and Stanford. You can sometimes make out SF in the very back.
- Stroll University Ave. main Palo Alto in evening. NOLA restaurant/bar is a fun, unique and distinct looking place to have a few drinks.
- Do yourself a favor and visit the Computer History Museum in Mountain View (I've been 4 times and still want to go). From there, Google main campus is only ~10 minute walk as well, and across the street a movie theatre Cinema Century 16. Downtown Mountain View is also ~30 minute walk and Red Rock Cafe is a nice place to pull out a laptop and hack a bit.
- For transport: there are many ZipCars around Stanford, and also Enterprise car rental (for longer periods) has a branch on Stanford campus.
I also skipped San Jose. San Jose calls itself the capital of Silicon Valley, but when people in the Valley use the phrase "the city," they mean San Francisco. San Jose is a dotted line on a map.
He makes it sound like nothing happens there, but if so, why do they claim to be the capital of SV?
Geographically, San Jose is much closer to the "heart" of the valley -- Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Palo Alto, Mountain View and the surrounding areas -- than San Francisco is.
It is also, going strictly by population, the larger of the two cities.
I didn't get any invitation email from YC, but when:
1. I go to this link: http://news.ycombinator.com/susrsvp,
2. it asks me if I am coming. And I selected "YES" and
3. I see a message: Ok, see you there! on http://news.ycombinator.com/x
Does that mean I was invited but didn't get an email?
http://lanyrd.com/series/startup-school/ (includes previous years)
You can also find many of the videos on YouTube and the web at large (just do a search for "startup school" or perhaps "startup school videos").
Is it a good idea to rent a car / a motorbike -- how good is public transportation?
I am flying from Seattle, too. Would you like to meet before we fly there? Let me know. Thanks.
www.risesf.com - william@risesf.com
Several YC alum stay/stayed here.
Also, I'm flying in with my fiancee, anyone here have recommendations on where to stay? we also want to hit up the outlet mall somewhere around there, and obviously downtown SF. We're not sure if we should stay in downtown SF, or by the airport? obviously price is a factor..but so is transportation since it's a 2 hour bus ride to Stanford from the hotels in SF, but everyone is telling us not to rent a car?? Any advice from people wiser than myself would be appreciated!
