clojure in us vs europe
TRANSCRIPT
Clojure in US vs Europe A First-hand Experience Report
Presented at Amsterdam Clojure Meetup July 2015 by Paul Lam (@Quantisan)
Paul’s Clojure work history
Boston S.F.
2012 2013 20152014
London
Boston Clojure Meetup
Spokepoint
YC Startup
uSwitch
Incanter
Cascalog
Tour
“This City is what it is because our citizens are what they are”
- Plato
My Airbnb host in The Hague
● Traveled across the world since the 60’s … by ships
● Rigged a rainwater collection system for her garden
London
A London Clojurian You Might Meet
● Java developer from a bank in a prior life
● With a young family living in Barnet
● Kite-surfing in Brighton
● Knows every pub in the city
My life as a Clojurian in London
Likes:● First Londoners I’ve met
were from the Clojure Dojo
● Received lots of support from Clojure people in and out of workplace
● Well connected to the rest of European Clojure groups
Dislikes:● Can’t afford to buy a flat
in London● Work visa sponsorship
rules out working at newer companies or doing a startup
Clojure Shops in London
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/london-clojurianshttps://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/london-clojurian-jobs
Mastodon C
Cambridge, MA
A Cambridge Clojurian You Might Meet
● Graduated from both MIT and Harvard
● Works on processing genomics data
● Actually uses Common Lisp and Haskell
● Family with kids living in the South Shore
My life as a Clojurian in Cambridge
Likes:● Ran into Richard
Stallman on my first weekend
● Met many people solving hard problems
● Small but close-knit community
● Swimming or bouldering at lunch
Dislikes:● Few Clojure teams● Am not one of the
students in the more than 100 colleges in greater Boston area
Clojure Shops in Greater Boston Area
http://www.meetup.com/Boston-Clojure-Group/
San Francisco
A SF Clojurian You Might Meet
My life as a Clojurian in San Francisco
Likes:● Even my non-tech
clients have heard about Clojure
● #1 startup ecosystem○ mentoring○ funding○ collaborating
● 3-4 Clojure meetups in a month
● No shortage of services catering to SV geeky lifestyle
Dislikes:● Rent of my room is
same as my whole flat in London
● Drinking the startup Kool-Aid
● Insulated from the non-tech world
Clojure shops in San Francisco
http://www.meetup.com/The-Bay-Area-Clojure-User-Group/
More that I don’t know about
Summary
Choose London if you ...
● Prefer European lifestyle● Wants to work for a mid size company● Build a European presence
Choose Boston if you ...
● Want to use Clojure for hard science or education technologies
Choose San Francisco if you ...
● Wants to drink the startup kool-aid● Be part of a massive Clojure community
Other Clojure hotspots?
Amsterdam?
Contact
Paul Lam
● [email protected]● @Quantisan
Next talk in Berlin on 15 July, Yet Another Startup Built on Clojure(Script)