Throughout 2017, Austin welcomed on average 151 new transplants a day, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
While not quite at the same rate, businesses are also flocking to the Bat City, looking to capitalize on the deep talent pool and affordable cost of living. We connected with five tech companies that recently came to town to learn what motivated their moves to Austin.
Before deciding to grow out a team in Austin, CCC considered several cities where it could expand — including its home base of Chicago, where over 700 employees reside. But Reza Rooholamini, chief architect and VP of research and development and data sciences, said Austin’s culture and supportive tech community pushed them to the 512.
Austin has its own flavor of Texas mixed with West, Midwest and East coast individuals.”
Why did your team move forward with Austin?
There are three things that attracted us to Austin: the city’s culture, its support for incubating startups and the existing tech talent in the market. Austin has its own flavor of Texas mixed with West, Midwest and East coast individuals. It reminds us a bit of how Chicago is — a cradle of innovation and culture. We saw ourselves fostering a great company culture here but also learning more about how we can do things better.
Has the city met your team’s expectations?
It’s been a welcoming place to build our team. We had expected Austin to be a larger city at first, which has actually been a nice change of pace.
What’s been your team’s quintessential Austin moment?
The visit to the original Salt Lick Barbecue in Driftwood. That was an amazing first experience for myself and the team.
Founded in Bristol, England, Brightpearl relocated its North American headquarters from San Francisco to Austin in March 2017. One of the perks of doing so: gaining an extra two working hours that overlap with its headquarter’s time zone. Justin Press, Brightpearl’s general manager of North America and VP of customer success, filled us in on the company’s decision to move here versus staying in the Bay Area.
We have hired 25 people in 12 months and their experience, commitment and skill set has surpassed our expectations.”
Why did your team move forward with Austin?
Switching from the Pacific time zone to Central gave us an extra two hours to remotely connect with our U.K. team, which was huge. We also received support from the Austin Chamber of Commerce and other organizations to make the move. Additionally, coming to Austin allowed us to be in the same neighborhood as some of the companies we hold strategic partnerships with, including BigCommerce and ShipStation, as well as our existing customers like Fringe Sport. Plus, it’s easy for us to head over to London on the direct flights from British Airways and Norwegian Airlines.
Lastly, Austin is a cool city with great weather and excellent people.
How has the city met or exceeded your team's expectations?
We have hired 25 people in 12 months and their experience, commitment and skill set has surpassed our expectations.
What has been your team’s quintessential Austin moment?
Any time we spill queso in the meeting rooms.
Within six months of launching AdAction and growing a team in Denver, the company hired its first Austin employee, kicking off the opening of its second office. Dianne Wright, AdAction’s manager of people and culture, shared how the addition of the Austin office was an organic move and one they definitely haven’t regretted.
It has everything we could ever possibly want or need and truly fits the personality of our team and our culture.”
Why did your team move forward with Austin?
We are always looking for top applicants to join our team. As we continued to grow our employee base in Denver, we found that the most qualified candidate to fill one of our available roles was located in Austin. This sparked the idea to open a second office.
Since that day, Austin has been the ideal city to house our team. Its thriving tech scene encompasses so much of what we do and allows for great networking opportunities and learnings right in our own backyard. Austin is a solid sister city to Denver as well, sharing a unique synergy with similar character and like-minded people. We’ve even come to find that a lot of people who live in Denver apply for our open positions in Austin and vice versa, looking for a similar atmosphere in a new place.
How has the city met your team's expectations?
Austin was recently voted the No. 1 best place to live in the U.S. and that really says it all for us. We couldn’t be happier to work in a city that we all love. It has everything we could ever possibly want or need and truly fits the personality of our team and our culture.
What has been your team’s quintessential Austin moment?
We plan monthly staff outings throughout the year that you aren’t likely to find anywhere else — like ax throwing. But our end of summer lake day is probably our most “quintessential” Austin moment. It’s a great day spent together out on Lake Travis when we celebrate the success of the year, bask in the summer heat and enjoy good food, drinks and laughs.
Outdoorsy considered San Diego, Oakland and Salt Lake City for its new HQ. The company ultimately chose — you guessed it — Austin, opening its doors in early March. Jen Young, the company's co-founder and CMO, said Austin’s reputation as a tech hub and its appeal among millennials is what steered them toward the Live Music Capital of the World.
Day-to-day interaction with people is a lost culture coming from San Francisco, but it is alive and well in Austin.”
Why did your team move forward with Austin?
After much research and analysis, we chose Austin thanks in part to its national ranking as the second top city for millennials to live, work and play, its top ranking in 2017 as the best city for job seekers, its award-winning park system, close proximity to our fast-growing customer base and reputation as a business-friendly environment.
We are thrilled to be a part of a thriving, tech-savvy and beautiful city that embraces our values of celebrating both community and its surroundings.
How has the city met or exceeded your team's expectations?
Austin’s business-friendly atmosphere has for sure exceeded our expectations. It's totally different than San Francisco, even down to basics like how quickly real estate negotiations get finalized, smooth and swift repairs on our building from plumbers, working with construction teams, repair help, etc. Unlike California, where you are overcharged and underserved constantly, Austin businesses have come through in a reliable way.
And the traffic is not a problem — or at least from our perspective. Food has been excellent, but most importantly, the attitude and hospitality of Austinites is a nice surprise. We are all a bit shocked at how people will actually say good morning on the street and say hello and stop and chat and look you in the eye. This day-to-day interaction with people is a lost culture coming from San Francisco, but it is alive and well in Austin.
What has been your team’s quintessential Austin moment?
This past weekend we revived the exterior of our office building on the East side by painting a mural. Drivers stopped and honked to give us thumbs up and pay compliments as they drove by. To experience the painting process and to have the local community give us so many accolades has cemented our new found love affair with Austin. This was the moment.
Redgate expanded its U.S. presence from Pasadena, Calif., to Austin in February 2017. The company, headquartered in Cambridge, U.K., had evaluated growing its Pasadena workforce as well as opening offices in NYC or Boston prior to proceeding with an Austin location. Since its local launch, Redgate’s Austin team has outgrown its initial space in the Austin Oaks business complex, moving into a downtown spot on Guadalupe Street last month. Dave Frignoca, Redgate’s VP of sales, told us how Austin has exceeded his team’s expectations.
Austin is a city where all types are welcome and where differences are celebrated.”
Why did your team move forward with Austin?
While it is certainly advantageous that Austin has a deep talent pool and a lower cost of living compared to competing cities, our decision had a lot to do with the type of sales model we instituted. By expanding into a centrally located hub like Austin, we are now within a couple hours by plane of any city in the U.S. Our sales reps can also service our customers better if they are within one time zone, rather than three. We covet deep customer relationships and having an office here allows us to build that. Another aspect that solidified our decision to expand in Austin was its culture of creative entrepreneurship.
How has the city met your team's expectations?
Austin exceeds our expectations daily. In the last year, we have more than doubled the size of our Austin office. In doing so, we were continually impressed with the level of talent we encountered during recruitment. Also, our new office location has provided us the opportunity to take advantage of all the best Austin has to offer. Sandwiched between downtown and UT’s campus, we are within walking distance to a variety of bars, restaurants, and Town Lake for a lunchtime run.
What has been your team’s quintessential Austin moment?
It feels like every day is the quintessential Austin experience. Austin is a city where all types are welcome and where differences are celebrated. Within our office we have musicians, long-distance runners, foodie fanatics, rock climbers, organic farmers and the list goes on. The rare ability to bring together a group of diverse people with different personalities, interests, backgrounds and drivers and unite them around common goals to create both an eclectic and collaborative environment, this is Austin at its core. From our perspective, Austin and Redgate have a lot in common.
