New York's Silicon Alley makes do after Sandy

[Xithras]

2. Fairly standard startup mentality

Startups have a certain glamour, but they're brutal places to work. 60-80 hours a week, no overtime, spotty days off...there's a good reason that most startups don't want employees with families.

The big issue for many is simply reliability. Technology companies have a global reach, and New England is a fairly tiny part of the world. If a customer in Australia or Japan has a problem with your product and needs help, they're not going to care that your street outside is flooded. They're just going to get mad if nobody answers the phone. If you're racing to get a new feature on your site before anyone else can, your competitors in Bangalore or the Silicon Valley aren't going to slow down just because you're having power problems and can't keep up. They're going to finish it first and cut your company out of the market.

Employees at startups are generally highly competetive people who thrive in that type of environment, and who aren't going to complain if they're asked to host a few co-workers around their kitchen table.