How do I rationalise opening up an office in a particular neighbourhood of San Francisco? You can bet there's

February 15, 2012 8:27 PM

Are there any maps/resources to illustrate the neighbourhoods that Silicon Valley VC/PEs and tech companies are located in?

I currently work for a VC/PE player based in an Asian country and we're looking to set up an office in the West Coast. We have limited geographical knowledge of the West Coast cities, but as I understand it, Silicon Valley is organised into tech sub-sector clusters (e.g. cleantech, social media, hitech, etc are located in their own discrete neighbourhoods). Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm looking for links/maps/explanations on the Internet that would set out this complicated story, thus help me find out who are the friendly neighbours in each clustor.

Just so it's clear, I would prefer to steer all answers away from debating which neighbourhood is better. I'm just looking for unbiased resources at this point.

I'm aware of this, and this google map - however I'm looking for a little more granularity into the neighbourhoods and to add VC/PEs as well...

posted by aherdofturtles to work & money (6 answers total)

Bleh, I've been away from AM for a couple of years, so apologies if you've noticed the question structure screwup... I tried to be too ambitious there...
posted by aherdofturtles at 8:29 PM on February 15, 2012

I don't have a specific answer for you, but I'd ask this question at Quora.com. Lots of Silicon Valley players are active there.
posted by dfriedman at 8:33 PM on February 15, 2012

I'm not a VC but I'm a silicon valley entreprenure that has spent far too much time visiting their offices. My field is cleantech and hardware so I can't speak for exclusive internet VC's.

There is A place, Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, where many VC offices are located. In particular Sand Hill Circle. But there are VC offices down the length of Sand Hill Rd and in downtown Palo Alto (usually near to University Ave) but also on Middlefield Rd. In San Francisco all the offices I've visited are in the financial district(downtown) and in particular the Embarcadero Center.

I don't think VC cluster by investment interest (internet, cleantech etc.) Many of these firms invest in all areas. Firms that have an interest in public markets tend to locate in San Francisco close to the rest of the financial industry.
posted by Long Way To Go at 10:00 PM on February 15, 2012 [2 favorites]

Two logical spots:
-Sandhill Road in Menlo Park (look up the addresses for Andreessen Horowitz or Mayfield Fund or Kleiner Perkins to get exact spot)
OR
-Financial District in San Francisco (look up addresses for OATV or First Round Capital or Rustic Canyon to get exact area)

Nowhere else is going to be terribly convenient if you are looking for the normal advantages of being near other venture-capital-dispensing groups.

Good luck!
posted by milqman at 10:30 PM on February 15, 2012

What Long Way To Go said: Sand Hill Road was, at least during the late 90s, shorthand for VC.

There has been a generational shift of sorts in recent years, as beneficiaries of that early boom have become angels and fully-fledged VCs in their own right, and many veterans of the initial SoMa startup scene still tend to be based in SF rather than the Valley. The big all-round players, though, are still in Menlo Park.
posted by holgate at 10:37 PM on February 15, 2012

Just to close this up - I've decided to mark LWTG's as a best answer although I was looking for resources on the net... No matter :)

Thanks to all who replied!

Btw... any quora invites out there?
posted by aherdofturtles at 6:13 PM on February 29, 2012