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The latest Silicon Valley trend has Tech Dudes taking to living in boxes (aka sleeping pods). Are they driven, exploited, savvy, or just plain crazy?
A recent article from ABC SF highlighted this strange phenomenon – tech entrepreneurs living in small pods not too dissimilar to a Tokyo coffin hotel, rented out for $700 a month.
The entrepreneurs in question were mocked in the local media, with many claiming yet another San Francisco race-to-the-bottom in terms of what passed as the bare minimum for living standards.
But, are we right to mock these guys for their commitment? It looks like an abrupt departure from the classic Gen-Z trope of self-entitled softies. They’re working hard, living cheap, and hustlin!
Let’s not forget our history: we’ve been there before.
The way things were
Microsoft. Amazon. Apple.
All companies with humble beginnings, working out of garages to help make their tech innovations become reality.
Gates. Bezos. Wozniak.
Hardly names that you would mock because they made compromises on their living situations to get things done.
But there is a big difference today: nobody can afford a house with a garage.
The coffin-box is the new garage!
Unicorn startups, Pegasus rents
Rental pricing today in US tech hotspots is soaring, as well as rising inflation and increased cost of living.
Tech founders are rightly balking at the idea of paying $3000 for barely acceptable apartments in San Francisco.
And it’s not just SF feeling the property pinch.
Zuckerberg vs. Zillow
Rents in Paolo Alto, a traditional tech hotbed, are now above $3,400 for a single bed apartment.
Set your heart on a tech incubator house with a pool as seen in Facebook founder biopic The Social Network, or TV show Silicon Valley? Forget about it…these can easily cost upwards of $10k a month.
With prices skyrocketing, is it any wonder that techpreneurs are ditching traditional housing options for something more budget friendly?
Air mattresses over apartments
On the surface, it all seems like a cost effective solution to the ridiculously high American rental market.
$3000 for an apartment vs. $700 for a double bed with wifi in the heart of Techtopia sounds pretty good.
Permit issues aside, if this is what brings about the next wave of innovation then let them sleep in boxes.
It’s the results that matter.
Break the mold to change the world
When did the world start looking down on the entrepreneurial spirit it once encouraged?
And being mocked for showing total commitment to a project is complete lunacy.
If this is what drive and desire comes from, then I say bring it on.
The outcome will speak for itself, and the naysayers will find themselves left in the dust
The question for your business
What price are you willing to pay to achieve your goals?
