Startups, would you couch-surf Kansas City just to get Google Fiber?

One KC developer wants to build the tech community through "Homes for Hackers."

Cyrus Farivar – Aug 23, 2012 6:40 pm | 59

Could Google Fiber make the City of Fountains the next Silicon Valley? Credit: photoguyinmo

Gigabit speeds + Midwestern kindness = crazy delicious

Since it was formally announced last month, Google Fiber has caused ripple shockwaves throughout the ISP world—the company has promised gigabit speeds for a base rate of $70 per month. Google has been requiring local residents to sign up as part of "fiberhoods," in order to get Google Fiber. On its Twitter account, the company also said Thursday that 84 fiberhoods had reached the minimum number of people required to bring service to those communities.

On his site, Barreth explains that residents would be expected to supply a spare basement/bedroom for the "hacker," free utilities (that means access to that delicious Google Fiber!), as well as non-tangible things like "introducing the newbie to KC," and "showing Midwestern kindness to a total stranger."

In exchange, the "hacker-entrepreneur" is expected to buy their own food, build a startup in town, and "pay this kindness forward."

"In three months, if we can get 10 startups onboard, then every 3 months we can get 10 more," Barreth added. "We potentially could have 40 new business in a year, just if we’d have 10 households committed to it."

On Barreth's site, he stipulates that "KC Hacker Homes only exists as a match-making service to pair you up with a hacker and for you to form a temporary living arrangement with them. We are not part of the 'deal' between you and the hacker in any way." And there's a hint that unapologetic free-loaders will be vetted from the program, as the sign-up form requires potential entrepreneurs to give a vague overview of their business plan.

Great people, cheap cost of living

So beyond blazing-fast Internet speeds, why move to Kansas City? Barreth thought you’d ask. On his site he lists the top seven reasons why startups should come to Missouri’s largest city. The top reason? The people.

"Good, hard-working, laid-back, good-humored Midwesterners," Barreth wrote. "That's the reputation of people in Kansas City and it's well deserved. People are a company's greatest asset but also its greatest liability. Great people make great companies—they don't just happen by accident."

But beyond that, he admits, there are more quantifiable reasons, too.

"To add to that I’d say it’s really cheap to live here, and the cost of talent is really cheap," he told Ars. "The talent pool is nowhere near exhausted. It’s nowhere near as crazy as Silicon Valley, but there is still a startup community."

After-hours requests for comment to the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Google, and a handful of KC tech-minded Twitter users were not immediately returned.

Still, there seemed to be some curious entrepreneurs on Y Combinator Hacker News.

"I lived in the KC area (Overland Park) for a short while and loved it," wrote a user called "peacemaker."

"The people are friendly, there is loads to do, and it's cheap to live there. The downsides for me were the lack of startup software jobs and the weather, tornadoes specifically. Now I'm here in SF and paying double the rent for a place half the size of my place in KC. Seeing something like this is very intriguing. Especially since I'm trying to bootstrap my own startup and feeling a bit lost in a sea of Silicon Valley startups!"