The Downtown Project, a privately funded effort to revitalize downtown Las Vegas with an infusion of technology startups, fashionable eateries and other futuristic and high culture businesses, as well as schools and medical centers, has hit a bump in the road. Project founder and lead investor Tony Hsieh quit the project weeks ago, leaving his management team the task of laying off staff. (Hsieh is the CEO of Zappos, which is based in Las Vegas). On Tuesday, 30 percent of the project staff were let go. The local businesses that DTP helped launch remain operational, but many of the non-revenue generating programs that the program sponsored - some led by heavy hitters brought to Vegas by Hsieh - have been axed, while the future of the revitalization roadmap established by Hsieh is now in question.
(Score: 1) by Horse With Stripes on Thursday October 02 2014, @01:48AM
So, what never made it to Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas?
These types of projects look good on paper, but when there's one dominant figure involved things can go south in a hurry if they leave. Don't put all your bets in one basket.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday October 02 2014, @04:35AM
(I confused. I'm reading it again and I'm still staying confused, so let's ask)
Did you mean to say that the Las Vegas tradition evolved into:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 02 2014, @07:54AM
but when there's one dominant figure involved (Tony Hsieh) things can go south (trouble ensues) in a hurry (quickly) if they (Tony Hsieh) leave (depart from the project).
(Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Thursday October 02 2014, @08:03AM
Aaaah, I see... you say Tony Hsieh has multiple figures but only one is dominant.
And for the things to go south in a hurry, is it all Tony Hsieh figures that must leave or only the dominant one?
(ducks)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 5, Insightful) by frojack on Thursday October 02 2014, @01:55AM
Seriously, those words can not fit in the same sentence as Las Vegas.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 4, Informative) by kaszz on Thursday October 02 2014, @03:46AM
Don't bet your future on one employer?
(Score: 1, Troll) by Grishnakh on Thursday October 02 2014, @03:53AM
What kind of moron would want to locate their tech startup or fashionable eatery in a city dominated by casinos and all-you-can-eat buffets? Vegas has its place, but it's no place for businesses like that. The only high-end restaurants in Vegas are located within casinos; anywhere else, they'd simply fail. And tech companies there are all related to gaming. If you want to start a "futuristic and high-culture business", there's several good west-coast cities which are already excellent locations for that (San Diego, LA, SF/Silicon Valley, Portland, and Seattle).
This is just another lame and futile attempt by some not-so-cool city to try to "me-too" the west coast cities with culture and tech. It's not going to work; "build it and they will come" is only in the movies.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 02 2014, @04:13AM
> What kind of moron would want to locate their tech startup
The man who was the primary mover behind the project did just that - he founded Zappos in Vegas.
> or fashionable eatery
There are tons of high-end hotels there. You might as well ask who would want to put on $100+/ticket live shows in a place like Vegas.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 02 2014, @04:49AM
The only high-end restaurants in Vegas are located within casinos; anywhere else, they'd simply fail.
Like this five-star restaurant? [mandarinoriental.com]
(Score: 2) by stormwyrm on Thursday October 02 2014, @07:46AM
Someone perhaps read this piece [paulgraham.com] by Paul Graham and tried to do it.
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday October 02 2014, @09:24PM
Maybe, but it seems they didn't read the whole thing.
Here's one important line:
How well this scheme worked would depend on the city. There are some towns, like Portland, that would be easy to turn into startup hubs, and others, like Detroit, where it would really be an uphill battle. So be honest with yourself about the sort of town you have before you try this.
Were the people in Vegas honest with themselves about the sort of town they had?
Here's another very important line by Paul:
It will be easier in proportion to how much your town resembles San Francisco. Do you have good weather? Do people live downtown, or have they abandoned the center for the suburbs? Would the city be described as "hip" and "tolerant," or as reflecting "traditional values?" Are there good universities nearby? Are there walkable neighborhoods? Would nerds feel at home? If you answered yes to all these questions, you might be able not only to pull off this scheme, but to do it for less than a million per startup.
Does Vegas have good weather? Hell no, it's one of the hottest cities in North America (it's right up there with Phoenix), it's dry and has dust storms. Maybe they confused "lack of rain" with "good weather". Lack of rain works OK for San Diego and LA, but that's because the temperatures are always mild there. Not so in Vegas.
Do people in Vegas live downtown? Hell no, the downtown is The Strip and then a bunch of seedy businesses, and everyone lives in the sprawling suburbs. Again, not much different from Phoenix.
Is Vegas "hip" and "tolerant"? Well, it doesn't exactly reflect "traditional values", so maybe they got confused by this one, but it isn't exactly a place where lots of gay people move, or really where anyone moves unless they're involved in the gambling business.
Are there good universities in Vegas? Um, no.
Walkable neighborhoods? Hell no. Leave the Strip and you're likely to be mugged.
Would nerds feel at home? Hell no, the only people who feel at home there are addicts of various kinds (gambling, smoking, drinking, etc.), and people who make a livelihood feeding those addictions (casino operators and employees, pimps, etc.).
Basically, as I see it, the only city in the US which would be an even worse place to try this startup-attracting scheme would be Detroit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 03 2014, @06:03PM
By all the nerd conventions that take place there.
Blackhat, DefCon, ApacheCon, that Consumer Electronics thing, I'm sure there are others.
The problem however is: Most of the people going to those events do so to GET AWAY from their regular life, not to MAKE IT their life.
Honestly, contrary to their ads, it's not a very glamourous place. It's got the same level of detrious and undesirables as LA, SF, or NY suburbs (and I've rolled through rougher but not murder-on-sight suburbs in all three.) Unless you're there *IN* a casino, and don't plan on wandering around much outside of the breezeways, it's one of the filthiest and least glamorous places I've ever been.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday October 02 2014, @06:06AM
Wait, wasn't there a really cool movie about this that starred Robert Redford and the Gandhi dude? Tech for the Mafia? (this is not to suggest that all business in Las Vegas are brothels or scams or controlled by organized crime so that any one starting a tech business there must be connected to the same. Not at all! In no way! Inconceivable!)
(Score: 2, Informative) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday October 02 2014, @08:16AM
... than most people realize.
Even if your high-tech company's staff don't gamble itself, living and working in a community that is in such an altered state of reality as Las Vegas cannot be good for your company.
After camping in Death Valley with some friends, we decided to eat breakfast in Las Vegas. During breakfast one friend bet five dollars on Keno. The waitress was horrified. While it was her job to take my friends bet, the waitress' reaction to my friend's Keno bet was as if my friend had ordered heroin for breakfast.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 02 2014, @02:22PM
Your Keno story is odd because it clearly means something to you, but without the context of whatever is inside your head, it means nothing to anyone reading it.
Having lived in vegas I can say you are wrong.
The place is like any other town. If you don't gamble (and I never bet a dime while I lived there) you won't even notice it after a few weeks, it all blends into the background. I noticed all the payday loan and pawn shops a lot more than the off-strip gambling. But you can find those in most towns nowadays.