The Best Tech Industry Destinations: Austin vs. Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley might be the prime example of the best tech industry for entrepreneurship. But Austin is an up-and-coming player in the field, both for tech startups and larger enterprise companies. This is due to a variety of reasons we at Austin Visuals would like to explore.
Like Silicon Valley, Austin is a hotbed of skilled labor. Workers and entrepreneurs from around the world go to the Valley in order to pursue their careers and dreams. People are coming to Austin for the same reasons, to pursue the same hopes. That’s because we are doing the same thing as in the Valley, but we are doing it in a much more sustainable and organic way.
Austin now plays host to a variety of large companies and smart entrepreneurs flowing from New York, California, and other tech hot spots. Austin has become one of the nation’s most desired spots for both startups and large players. Companies that grow quickly thrive here.
Austin has a certain ecosystem that’s good for success — and it’s year-round. One estimation we saw showed that at least a third of the companies moving to Texas started in California. Companies in that state often end up doing business elsewhere, simply due to the high cost of living and working there. Texas has its share of home-grown large companies, like Dell, and large companies like Samsung, Flextronics, AT&T, Microsoft, and Apple all have over 2,000 employees here. Additionally, many successful Texas startups are headquartered right here in Austin.
Texas is big on big business. Texas offers companies about $19 billion per year in incentives, the most of any state in the nation. Texas has a commitment to growth within the best tech industry sector, and this is seen strongly in the Emerging Technology Fund. It awards grants that help the recruitment of talent, private-public partnerships, and product development. So far, more than $409 million in awards have been given, and more than 53,000 jobs created.
Austin has created an ecosystem that welcomes startups in particular. Our incubators, such as the Tech Ranch, Capital Factory, and UT’s Austin Technology Incubator all nourish young companies. Recently, a Jones Land LaSalle (JLL) report ranked Austin as the fifth major technology market out of 20 surveyed. Austin continues to see net growth even during the national recession when you consider that each tech innovation job creates five other jobs in the local economy. The math is pretty simple: Austin’s over 2,500 tech companies provide over 50,000 jobs.
Texas has an agreeable environment for funding, regulatory and legal issues. Austin also boasts lower housing costs, lower utility expenses, and lower tax burdens than most of the rest of the nation. Corporate and personal income tax are two things that Texans don’t have to pay either. Greater Austin is a fast-growing metropolitan area – one of the nation’s fastest. According to recent statistics, around 65 percent of the population migrated here. Try comparing that to Silicon Valley. Companies wanting to get the best tech industry for talent have to overcome the housing prices there, which are three times higher than in Austin (and more). Not only that but there are hefty regulations and taxes.
Silicon Valley started organically back in the 1980s. People came there in droves from the Midwest and elsewhere to pursue their dreams of innovation and entrepreneurship. That’s where Austin is today. The JLL report called Austin a ‘rising market,’ where Silicon Valley is closer to being a peaking market. Investors love our open landscape – not only is the geography open, but collaboration and information sharing are common practices here in Austin. Sure, our first rounds might be smaller, but we focus on more organic growth to scale our companies. And we take care of a more sustainable environment in the process. Everything Silicon Valley is doing, we’re doing here in Austin. We’re just doing it smaller. There are some unique benefits to be had in that.
At Austin Visuals 3D Animation Studio we specialize in providing the following 3D Animation and Video Services:
- 3D Animation, FX, and 3D Renderings
- Animation, Video Production, and Graphics from concept-to-completion
Contact us today to request a free quote and to learn more about how Austin Visuals can help you with your business and your 3d animation needs. Austin Visuals can help you save time and many headaches in getting your project off the ground and best of all we make your imagination, a reality. Call us today at 512-591-8024 or email us at: [email protected]
