How Tech Startups Use Their Funding

Do tech startup businesses spend the same coast to coast?
Or is it apples to oranges?

The two coasts are often compared in the startup scene by the amount of funding they have. But what about the way they spend their funding to conduct business? We took a deep dive into employee expenses and other business costs to compare.

Top vendors for T&E spend

Amazon dominated T&E spend with 8.3% total across both coasts

46.2%

27.0%

NY edged out CA for more Uber rides

Percent of dollars spent on local travel

38.4%

30.8%

NY had more airline loyalty than CA

Based on total flights booked.
However, NY booked 7x more Amtrak tickets.

Average Costs

$29.34

$14.65

$28.62

$13.42

Taxis accounted for 37% of local travel in NY,
while parking was 35% of CA’s.

% of Expenses for Flights

7.4%

8.1%

Based on total number of expenses.
However, NY booked 7x more Amtrak tickets.

Hotel Stays

Airbnb was a consistent favorite for overnight stays based on number of rooms booked.

New York:

California:

Preferred Cell Service for NY and CA

Percent of total expensed cellular plans

40.0%

51.3%

38.4%

17.9%

15.4%

30.7%

6.2%

Ship It

Percent of total dollars for shipments

New York:

California:

Supplies

Percent of total dollars for supply purchases

Top Merchants:

40.0%

57.0%

40.0%

57.0%

Other Merchants:

W.B. Mason 15.0%

Home Depot 5.0%

Other 13.0%

Staples 3.0%

Home Depot 5.0%

Office Depot 13.0%

NY relies on 2.5x the amount of vendors for supplies than CA does.

Which coast spent more on T&E in 2015?

CA spent 1.4x the amount of NY

Advertising Platforms

NY spent 1.2x the amont of money on advertising platforms as CA

New York:

California:

Twitter:0%

Salaries and Rent

Other big ticket items for conducting business include salaries and rent.

Average Salary

92k

103k

Office: Avg. Cost per Sq Ft

$6.16

$5.43

Office: Avg. Annual Cost

14.8K

13K

VALUATIONS

What does the NY and CA tech scene look like?

The CA tech scene has more venture capital than NY, so it's not surprising to see them spending more.

New York:

Unicorns

as of 2016

20

Total Valuation

($B)

37.3

California:

Unicorns

as of 2016

63

Total Valuation

($B)

258.5

Unicorns are private companies valued at $1B+

Some of the Emerging Unicorns

New York's tech scene is undoubtedly growing. Keep your eyes peeled on these brands for future unicorns

New York:

750M

700M

605M

500M

California:

865M

700M

575M

500M

Emerging unicorns are private companies valued between $500M - $1B