We've heard before that New York's start-ups are having trouble finding software engineers, but we see New York Magazine has put a new spin on it: A few weeks ago the magazine's Nitasha Tiku suggested the issue may be about perception more than anything else. Although the city is second only to Silicon Valley for attracting VC money, when you think of New York, you think finance and advertising. When you think of technology, you think Silicon Valley.

Another uphill fight: The Big Apple's start-ups are going up against its Goliaths. A qualified engineer will be scooped up by a bank before a start-up can even make an offer.

"Put your resume out there and you're going to get contacted by four or five headhunters, and within two weeks, assuming you're a strong candidate, you'll have an offer or two from a bank. It's sort of the easy choice," says Justin Moore, an engineer who worked at Bear Stearns and a hedge fund before moving to Foursquare. Especially considering that banks pay in large stacks of actual money, while start-up compensation typically leans on equity in what may - or may not! - be the next Groupon.

Engineers who want to both work in New York and take a chance on a start-up may find themselves as big fishes jumping into the small pond of a new company. Their competition has either moved west, or moved safe. And anyone will tell you becoming a big fish in New York is a triumph regardless of the size of the firm your work for.