AUSTIN | Economic Development

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by N90

TikTok already has an office in Austin so if/when TX lands their HQ then it’s probably going to be Austin.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sta...emplate=ampart

I’m glad, Austin is a world class tech city. Top 10 in the world BUT if you had to find a weakness then it’s that major tech players besides Dell and National Instruments don’t have HQs in Austin. Austin has many secondary campuses for companies and often times like Facebook, Apple, and Oracle those secondary campuses are the most important facilities those companies have after their HQ.

But Austin needs more big name tech HQs. TikTok is a start but we need some more like Tesla, Netflix, Nvidia, AMD, Intel, Google, Salesforce, etc.

The TikTok HQ and potentially up to 25k jobs, now that’s a prize worth salivating over boys...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fox...acle-trump.amp

How can it be a weakness? All of those companies are still located in the cities in which they were founded.

Unless they go through the laborious and expensive task of relocating, those companies are not going to move their HQs from where they are currently seated. Instead, you see what is happening now...they develop "second HQs" rather than massively expanding their main HQ.

What I see happening is that Austin is one of the most innovative cities in the world. A myriad of bright companies have been founded there and gained so much notoriety that they were gobbled up by a Fortune 500 company based elsewhere. You must give Austin credit for that fact. The issue one might have is that it's been a very long time since a home-grown company reached Fortune 500 status. Heck, even Whole Foods was bought.

[N90]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

How can it be a weakness? All of those companies are still located in the cities in which they were founded.

Unless they go through the laborious and expensive task of relocating, those companies are not going to move their HQs from where they are currently seated. Instead, you see what is happening now...they develop "second HQs" rather than massively expanding their main HQ.

What I see happening is that Austin is one of the most innovative cities in the world. A myriad of bright companies have been founded there and gained so much notoriety that they were gobbled up by a Fortune 500 company based elsewhere. You must give Austin credit for that fact. The issue one might have is that it's been a very long time since a home-grown company reached Fortune 500 status. Heck, even Whole Foods was bought.

Of course it’s a weakness.

SF Bay: Google, Apple, Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Square, Tesla, Salesforce, Netflix, Roku, Oracle, Adobe, PayPal, eBay, HP, Facebook, Cisco, Sunrun, Chegg, Intuit, etc all have their HQs there.

Seattle: Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, Costco, Expedia, etc all have their HQ there.

Austin: Dell.

I’m not saying that you only get corporate HQs by luring it away from somewhere else, you can develop your own too. But what I am saying is that Austin is lacking in major HQs. Yeah it’s cool having startups and all but you need some big time established players too and Austin only has Dell and maybe National Instruments. Whole Foods is now a division of Amazon, it’s not it’s own company anymore and frankly it was never a tech company to begin with. It’s a grocery store. And sorry but I don’t accept your reasoning about Austin companies getting bought up when they become big. That happens to companies everywhere but SF and SEA still keep enough around to have a good sized list. Austin doesn’t. We can’t make excuses for that.

Austin is a first class tech city. It has the school, talent, companies, money, allure, and innovation. But the one thing it really lacks is more major tech HQs, I’m not talking about secondary campuses or back offices. I’m talking about the actual HQ. And BTW, if a company doesn’t list your location as their second HQ, then you don’t really have one. Apple and Oracle don’t have a second HQ in Austin, they just have very big secondary campuses there. No taking away credit from the work that happens at these campuses, Austin usually has the second most important office for most tech companies outside of Silicon Valley but please don’t ever call them HQs because they’re not that.

That’s why I’m excited about this TikTok thing. It finally gives Austin a second recognizable corporate HQ beside Dell. Assuming TikTok actually goes to Austin instead of DFW or HOU, I think if they set up in TX then it’ll be in Austin where they already have an office but that’s just my guess.

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by N90

Of course it’s a weakness.

SF Bay: Google, Apple, Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Square, Tesla, Salesforce, Netflix, Roku, Oracle, Adobe, PayPal, eBay, HP, Facebook, Cisco, Sunrun, Chegg, etc all have their HQs there.

Seattle: Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, Costco, Expedia, etc all have their HQ there.

Austin: Dell.

I’m not saying that you only get corporate HQs by luring it away from someone else, you can develop your own too you know. But what I am saying is that Austin is lacking in major HQs. Yeah it’s cool having startups and all but you need some big time established players too and Austin only has Dell.

Austin will never compete with the big dawgs (cities) in terms of main HQs (without relocations). The city is too late to the game. Both Seattle and SF/Silicon Valley were already established business centers when Michael Dell started Dell Computers. And, Austin was quite small when he did. In fact, Austin's metro had ~450,000 people in it in 1984 (the year Dell was founded - four years after Whole Foods was founded). The human capital was simply not there to develop more - when compared to Seattle and SF Bay Area. And, tech was still in its adolescence. Small corporations like Dell could grow because there were not many other corporations who could (or saw the need to) purchase them at that time. It is a far different reality today - the business/entrepreneurial environment is a totally different animal today than it was then.

Originally Posted by N90

And I don’t appreciate your excuse about Austin companies getting bought up when they become big. That happens to companies everywhere but SF and SEA still keep enough around to have a good sized list. Austin doesn’t.

That's OK. I cannot please everyone. Like it or not...it's the reality - companies are being bought by larger ones. It's a force of nature.

The "big boy"/legacy companies are buying up more of the up-and-comping corporations in Seattle and SF than what is being gobbled up in Austin. Furthermore, you must understand the type of entrepreneur behind some of these ventures. Most are blessed to have created something someone wants to buy. However, a few want to take over the world - and don't sell until the price becomes too high not to. But, today, unless you are a legacy, you're going to get bought at some point.

Again...I believe Austin is late to this game. It's a young city in more ways than one. AND, THAT IS NOT A BAD THING! However, unless there are relocations, don't hold your breathe on a home-grown Fortune 500, 100, or 50 HQ in Austin's mid-term future. Again...that's not a bad thing!

Originally Posted by N90

Austin is a first class tech city. It has the school, talent, companies, money, allure, and innovation. But the one thing it really lacks is more major tech HQs, I’m not talking about secondary campuses or back offices. I’m talking about the actual HQ. And BTW, if a company doesn’t list your location as their second HQ, then you don’t really have one. Apple and Oracle don’t have a second HQ in Austin, they just have very big secondary campuses there. No taking away credit from the work that happens at these campuses, Austin usually has the second most important office for most tech companies outside of Silicon Valley but please don’t ever call them HQs because they’re not that.

You obviously don't understand how quotes may be used in certain cases. That's OK. Call those campuses what ever you want. Nonetheless, they are more vital to that specific corporation's bottomline than any other campus other than their main HQ. AND - it's the "school, talent, companies, money, allure, and innovation" that is bringing those offices to Austin.

[N90]

I disagree with most of your point.

Most of those Seattle companies came about in more recent times. Seattle is not equitable or in the same league as SF. Amazon was founded in the late 1990s and was very small throughout the 2000s. It went through hyper growth in the 2010s that made it into what it was. Same with Expedia and Costco. Microsoft took a foothold in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

These were by no means “established players” in 1984 when Austin was a small town. So if Seattle can do it, then why not Austin? Austin in 2020 has way more going for it in human capital, money, allure, and talent than Seattle had in 1990. Both UT and UW are identically excellent schools for CS, engineering, digital animation, and other tech related fields. A lot of the major disruptions in the SF Bay Area today were founded after the year 2000, so if SF can develop and cultivate startups that become major established players in a short period of time then why can’t Austin? Why can’t any of Austin’s startups become as big and major as Tesla, Netflix, Uber, Salesforce, Square, Roku, etc. all of these companies were founded after the year 2000. Maybe it’s not fair comparing to SF because of the money and capital there but against places like Seattle, LA, or Minneapolis? That’s fair game. Austin in theory should be able to compete advantageously against most of those cities and in most ways it can except for the whole corporate HQ thing.

Also you have the wrong idea. I love Austin, a lot, just being critical of the one thing it doesn’t have. I just don’t like it when people make excuses like “Austin is still small” or “Austin tried but it’s companies got bought out”. In my eyes, excuses highlight how Austin isn’t trying hard enough. You can’t keep settling for companies based somewhere else opening campuses for you. You need to create (or lure) major players that everywhere wants on your own too.

Fact of the matter is that Austin needs way more HQs. Even Charlotte, which is a new city without the educational institutions, money, or talent of Austin has some big time players. Honeywell just moved there last year. Not to mention cities like Cincinnati, Denver, Minneapolis, Hartford, etc which are in Austin’s weight class but have a bigger list of major HQs/F1000s.

3D printing was invented in Austin by Carl Deckard but Deckard moved his 3D printing company to South Carolina. Why?

http://siliconhillsnews.com/2014/08/...-ut-in-austin/

Austin needs more. I don’t care how hard people work at those campuses. I want Austin to have it’s own companies that everyone wants. Not to just be a place always hoping that somewhere else’s companies expand there or set up roots. There’s nothing wrong with that but it can’t be the only game in town.

And you keep saying that Austin won’t develop its own major HQs in the near term and then say “that’s not a bad thing.” Sorry, but that is a bad thing. A very bad thing.

[ILUVSAT]

^^^N90

I don't have the time to try to educate you or try to explain my thoughts in a more simplistic way which you may understand. I cannot break through the dense cloud between us. And, in no certain terms was I ever Austin-bashing!

You obviously are jumping to a myriad of conclusions and arrived at several incorrect assumptions regarding my comments.

Life and things are what they are - no matter how hard you may want them to change.

By the way, Charlotte was settled in 1755 and incorporated in 1768 (not quite as young as Austin). Among several other universities (including those in Charlotte) - Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, Wake Forrest, Davidson, and NC State are all institutions within 160 miles of Charlotte - plenty of human capital from which to draw.

I hope your dreams become reality someday. Good day to you, sir. And

Please stay safe out there.

[SproutingTowers]

There are many more HQs in Austin like the Army Futures Command and Firefly Aerospace not on the Austin Chamber’s list which are making an economic impact and spurring startups.

https://www.austinchamber.com/econom...e-headquarters

[freerover]

I think we could see some HQ relocations from Houston due to climate concerns in the next few decades. Lots of flooding right now with tropical storm Beta.

[The ATX]

From an ABJ article this morning:

Sources confirm social media company TikTok is evaluating Austin for a large corporate office, perhaps even its global headquarters. While a decision has not been made, brokers are speculating about where it could go and what it would mean for the local real estate market. One said: "If TikTok were to come into one of the existing office buildings in Austin, that would be a big boost to the Austin market, which is relatively flat and is expected to remain flat for a while."

...multiple sources confirmed that TikTok is indeed looking at potential sites around town and could be in the market for 100,000 to 300,000 square feet.

TikTok is nowhere close to make a final decision on if or where to put a big corporate office in Austin, real estate sources said. But brokers have floated a few ideas of where the company could land, including the 15-story RiverSouth tower, being developed by Stream Realty Partners LP at the site of the former Hooter’s restaurant on South First Street, and The Grove, a mixed-use development near 45th Street and Bull Creek Road.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n..._news_headline

[LiveattheOasis]

I would love to see RiverSouth pick up TikTok. Huge coup for south of the river as the Statesman site and other parcels get off the ground, and probably will accelerate those even further.

[We vs us]

This is interesting background:

‘Tremendous increase’ in corporate relocations, expansions to Texas since pandemic hit
Gov.'s office: Phone calls rolling in from companies shuttering on coasts

Despite some companies pausing projects due to the pandemic and the resulting economic meltdown, Texas has more potential corporate relocations and expansions in the pipeline than before Covid-19 hit, a top state economic development official said in a summit on Sept. 24.

Adriana Cruz, executive director of Economic Development and Tourism for Gov. Greg Abbott’s office, said the office has 196 active relocation or expansion projects in its pipeline right now.

“Pandemic or no, we’ve actually seen a larger number of prospects reach out to us since the pandemic started,” said Cruz, who leads the state’s economic development efforts. “We have seen a tremendous increase in the number of prospects and projects we have in very diverse industries.”

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...ion-texas.html

[urbancore]

so now we have Joe Rogan and Ron White in Austin. Rogan recently mentioned Tom Segura and his wife (can't remember her name) moving as well....and possibly some other comedians.

1. Can anyone confirm Segura or other comedians moving to Austin?

2. Rogan mentioned possibly buying a ranch to hold events, but more intriguing, he mentioned putting a comedy club somewhere downtown, probably 6th Street, to re-establish the reeling Austin comedy scene.

3. As someone who really appreciates stand up comedy (my ole-man let me listen in to his Pryor records in the 70's...been hooked ever since)....I think this could be HUGE, especially in bringing back nightlife in downtown. A first rate comedy club with national acts in and out, mentors for the local scene would be something new and potentially special. Curious to know what you all think.

[the Genral]

Originally Posted by urbancore

so now we have Joe Rogan and Ron White in Austin. Rogan recently mentioned Tom Segura and his wife (can't remember her name) moving as well....and possibly some other comedians.

1. Can anyone confirm Segura or other comedians moving to Austin?

2. Rogan mentioned possibly buying a ranch to hold events, but more intriguing, he mentioned putting a comedy club somewhere downtown, probably 6th Street, to re-establish the reeling Austin comedy scene.

3. As someone who really appreciates stand up comedy (my ole-man let me listen in to his Pryor records in the 70's...been hooked ever since)....I think this could be HUGE, especially in bringing back nightlife in downtown. A first rate comedy club with national acts in and out, mentors for the local scene would be something new and potentially special. Curious to know what you all think.

I think we could see more celebrities / comedians move to Texas, and I am a Rogan fan and watch the youtube clips, so I saw his mentions, but I'm not that big of a Segura fan who is leaning towards Florida anyway because I don't think his wife wants to move to Texas. No loss there. But I would think that once Rogan gets his guests here and they see his digs and Austin, we may get some notables moving here. Nashville seems to be in the mix, Ben Shapiro just moved there about the same time Rogan moved here. I believe Rogan has the intentions and the money to do your point #2, if he decides to stick around long term. I did not know that Ron White was living here until I watched that podcast. Is there an actual venue on 6th Street big enough for a major comedy club?

[Tyrone Shoes]

Home improvement chain Lowe’s has leased 120,000 square feet for a distribution center in the same Kyle business park where Amazon recently announced plans for a sorting facility.

The Lowe’s facility is in Kyle Crossing Business Park, adjacent to where Amazon plans to open a sorting facility this year. Lowe’s becomes the fourth major employer to locate in part of Plum Creek, a 2,200-acre master-planned community in Kyle.

[Geographer]

I hope TikTok stays far away from Austin because they ultimately answer to the Chinese Communist Party and the dictator Xi Jinping. Austin's values are openness, personal freedom, and idealism which the CCP and Xi Jinping oppose. CCP-allied companies should stay the hell away from Austin.



ByteDance is the developer and owner of TikTok.

[shoreditch]

Isn't the point of the ongoing sales negotiations to resolve precisely this? Or is the sale to Oracle/Walmart only for a minority shareholding, and ByteDance remains in control? I'll be honest I haven't followed the twists and turns all that closely.

[lonewolf]

yeah china does not want to sell the tiktok algo though

the fact that this isn't about money

tells you everything you need to know

[We vs us]

I've been following the TikTok saga for a while now, and it's a lot more complex than our public dialogue about it has really allowed it to be -- including its connection to the CCP, and what level of danger we might or might not actaully be in. If you have 10 minutes I highly recommend this Wired article -- it's a great primer on where we stand.

https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-b...security-risk/

[urbancore]

Originally Posted by We vs us

I've been following the TikTok saga for a while now, and it's a lot more complex than our public dialogue about it has really allowed it to be -- including its connection to the CCP, and what level of danger we might or might not actaully be in. If you have 10 minutes I highly recommend this Wired article -- it's a great primer on where we stand.

https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-b...security-risk/

Thanks for that.

I know where I stand for sure now.

[lonewolf]

It's a massive risk that China could be performing social experiments on our citizens. Look up experiments facebook, twitter and friends have already been caught doing.

here is an example. i haven't read the article. i know all big tech is doing it. imagine what we don't know. now imagine what a competing world power could be up to. there's a reason china has banned all US tech companies. they're not stupid.

i've read many articles over the years that look similar to one below. plenty of material out there if one were to poke around.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...riment/373648/

[The ATX]

The best drone video that I have seen for Apple Campus #2:

• Video Link