📩 🤾🏾 😭 Cons of Durov 🛒 ⚙️ 👩‍🏫

Two weeks ago, I took a good ride on YouTube in the wake of Dudu’s release of Silicon Valley . And a couple of days ago, Durov in his telegram channel published an interesting material on which, by the way, he was inspired by the same Yuri Dud. Paul named 7 reasons not to move to Silicon Valley . And again I can’t stay away: this time, not for hype, but for the sake of my subscribers, who were asked to comment .

Let us first talk about who I am and what moral right I have to comment / supplement Durov or Dude.

My name is Victoria, I am the author of a modest YouTube channel about a career in IT in the USA (99k subscribers). For almost 5 years I have been living in Silicon Valley. During this time, I managed to work here as a technical recruiter, to do interviews with more than 100 IT specialists, including Andrei Doronichev , one of the heroes of the Dude issue and a participant in conversations in Durov’s kitchen. Now I am developing my business.

Durov's article is a look at the Valley through the prism of a large-caliber IT entrepreneur. And as you know, it’s good for the Russian, the death for the German. Let's figure out that of the minuses of Durov are not at all cons for an ordinary IT specialist and where Pavel adjusts the facts for reasoning.

1. Police state

It's hard for me to say how an African-American or Hispanic man from the ghetto feels when he sees the police (60% of the convicts are African-American and Hispanic, from the same source that Durov brings), but my officer here inspires confidence, not tension. A large number of prisoners, obviously, speaks about the problems of the penitentiary system, but at least the inhabitants in America have faith in the justice of justice. Here, one does not have to be afraid of thrown drugs or extorting money on the roads, and in case of domestic violence there is a belief that things will not be hushed up.

2. Inaccessible healthcare

Personally, I do not know anyone who would fly to my homeland to receive medical services. Although I will not miss the opportunity to visit a cosmetologist, less often to a dentist, if I go to visit my parents. I think the majority of local emigrants have an approximate attitude.
Local prices often seem sky-high due to a comparison with modest prices in our homelands. Given the fact that most IT companies provide employees with very good insurance covering 80-100% of the cost of most procedures, medical expenses are quite high for local salaries.

Expensive medicine has a flip side: most technical innovations and scientific discoveries are made in the USA.

But that's not all. Perhaps I will surprise you, but in the USA there is also free medicine, it is simply not accessible to everyone. Only certain groups of people can apply for free medicine or state-subsidized insurance policies: pensioners (Medicare) or the poor (Medicaid). And the most interesting thing is that not only US citizens or holders of residence permits can use such medicine, but also those who are in the country on visas or even illegally. If you want to delve into the topic, I highly recommend reading an article about the device of the medical system in the USA .

Separately, it is worth commenting on the argument about obesity, since Paul is talking about the minuses of Silicon Valley, and not the United States as a whole. I am sure that the average weight of an American and a Californian is very different. In many ways, California stands out from stereotypical America: in the valley, everyone is obsessed with a healthy lifestyle and longevity. And it’s more appropriate to talk about obesity in the context of poor eating habits and the lack of public transport, but not medicine.

3. Limited cultural life

In the diversity of cultural life, Silicon Valley and San Francisco are really hard to compete with New York, Paris and St. Petersburg, where Pavel Durov comes from. But this is easily explained: quite specific and monotonous people live here - techies and entrepreneurs. Such a monoculture amazes the corresponding entertainments: there are a huge number of professional meetings, hackathons, pitch sessions, lectures, but they are all around technology and business.

Are these all vacation options here? No. The locals spend their weekends on hikes, picnics on the ocean, surf and snowboard, go to wineries or go yachting :) It seems to be enough classes, but yes, if you are a fan of clubs, theaters, bars, then in this place you will get bored very quickly .

Another claim by Paul is crime and the homeless in San Francisco. Indeed, there are areas in the city that are best avoided even during the day, not because they will attack you there, but rather because your sense of beauty will suffer greatly. Varlamov has a picturesque photo essay on this subject. Homeless people are a big problem in which some blame the too left-wing government, others - too high prices. But much more likely, this is a complex of reasons, which is definitely inappropriate to discuss under the item “Limited cultural life”.

4. Average secondary education

For starters, it’s useful to think about what “secondary education” is all about. Surely, this is not only mathematics ...

But even if we take into account only mathematics and programming, then one of the proofs of Durov crumbles at the first touch. Paul claims that

“The winners of the world programming championships who stand for eminent American universities are ethnic Chinese who were educated in Chinese schools and moved to the United States,”

and gives a link to the winners photo. At first glance, everything agrees: 3 guys of Asian appearance and surnames are most likely of Chinese origin. For the sake of curiosity, I found the Facebook accounts of all the guys and found that two out of three graduated from high school in the USA ( Kevin Sun , Andrew He , Yinzhan Xu ), and not in China.

In general, by this I want to say only that for such conclusions a broader view is needed.

I often heard from the children of my friends that they like to study in American schools more. What is the secret: in a lighter load, creative approach or something else - I can’t judge.

5. High taxes

Yes, taxes in the USA are really high, but for the sake of fairness, I’ll clarify that in California (the state with the highest taxes in the USA), only those with income per person (not per family!)> $ 2 million per year will pay 50%. With a salary of $ 250k / year, your tax will be a maximum of 36%, and with proper optimization and having a family, there may even be 26% for yourself. Just in case, I’ll leave a simple tax calculator here .

To points 6 and 7 of Durov, I would like to give a general comment.

6. and 7. The high cost of development and weak market prospects in the XXI century

Durov recommends not going to the valley to build an IT business, arguing that this is a low market prospect. Nevertheless, investor money is in the valley, so most promising startups and large companies are still here. Competition in the market is growing, and this leads to high competition for technical talents, and, as a result, to an increase in the salaries of local developers.

Since my post is focused on developers, I have nothing to add here: they pay a lot in the valley - cheers!

But in fairness I’ll say that here you will not feel like a super-rich, as, for example, programmers in Minsk. You will have to collect longer for housing. All in all, this is another topic for my future videos or articles.

Conclusion

Durov says that in Europe, human rights are better, and in Asia, growth and education, but there is no single ideal place.

What I personally value in California is the balance: pleasant weather, an attitude towards immigrants and career opportunities. In any case, how many people - so many opinions. Paradoxical as it may sound, when making important decisions, I would like to advise you not to listen to other people's advice.

If you are interested in knowing what Silicon Valley is, then come see or check out my YouTube or Telegram channel .

Cons of Durov