San Antonio Software

December 22, 2008 10:05 AM

Are there any good software companies in San Antonio?

I'm a software engineer, used to the progressive attitudes of west coast companies. Now, for various family reasons, I'm living in San Antonio. I've interviewed at a couple of places, but within 10 minutes I could tell these places were not for me. (One of them had me show up at 7am for the interview, for example. And this was a mandatory daily start time.)

Are there any west-coast style (for lack of a better term) software companies in San Antonio?

posted by king walnut to work & money (6 comments total)

I don't know anything about San Antonio specifically, but I know about software companies, and you'll probably find you will need to adjust your expectations of your workplace as you get further away from "west coast companies". That's not to say what you're looking for is impossible, but it will definitely be the exception not the rule.
posted by pdb at 10:46 AM on December 22, 2008

I can't help with the SA question, only been there once on business years ago and it seemed like a great area. However, I did want to point out that the laid back thing with west coast software firms tends to be an exaggeration, I recently worked for one and yes, they didn't start before 10 AM, but there were frequently Skype chats at 1 AM on business issues. It's all relative...

Although those firms tend to be more open to telecommuting, so you could still look to the west for your paycheck.
posted by COD at 10:48 AM on December 22, 2008

More non-San Antonio talk but...

7am mandatory for everyone? What about people with kids? That sounds like a policy for alienating your staff and making their lives more difficult. Who wants that?

We're Chicago software developers and we are cool with flex time, so it isn't just a West Coast thing.
posted by brian60640 at 11:35 AM on December 22, 2008

San Antonio is not a great place to find that atmosphere, but it sounds like you've already figured that out. There are a number of companies in Austin who have the company culture you seek.

I'm sorry I can't give you a more specific example of what you're looking for, but I'm honestly not sure it exists in SA. And it's not just the companies, it's everywhere. SA is stifling.
posted by fiercecupcake at 11:51 AM on December 22, 2008

I live in San Antonio. I get really tired of defending the city, but honestly it's not as bad as everyone seems to think. My perspective might be slightly skewed because I work in the arts, and we have ridiculously flexible schedules, etc.

Anyway, I know NewTek is in town, software-wise, and I know Rackspace is in town, but they just do web hosting as far as I know. Also, weirdly, mytoons.com is (or was, anyway, as of a couple months ago) based in San Antonio and was hiring. I can't speak to any of those companies' office cultures, but hopefully that helps a little.

Good luck. And if you need suggestions about cultural stuff around town, feel free to send me some mail.
posted by hapticactionnetwork at 3:15 PM on December 22, 2008

Also, if you live north of the city -- say, Comal County? -- you might be able to look as far afield as Austin. When I lived and worked in San Diego, I knew people who commuted down to our office from Orange County and even LA. When I lived in Austin (years ago) I knew people who thought nothing of driving 70 miles down to San Antonio to go out to dinner.

Also, SA is probably less about companies in the software industry than it is companies in other industries who nonetheless hire programmers. Think USAA, for example, or the hospitals or universities.

Also, I agree about the West Coast not necessarily being that progressive: Was I paged at all hours? Expected to deal with repeated unecessary "emergency projects" that come up right before 5pm? Faugh...
posted by Robert Angelo at 3:50 PM on December 22, 2008