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01/26/12 | Uncategorized

Mac Vs. PC: Does One Say "Tech Founder" More Than the Other?

By Caroline Green (Director of Business Development, IvanExpert)

If you’re creating a tech startup, how do you decide whether to get a Mac or a Windows PC? Which one will broadcast to potential investors, partners, employees, and customers that you’re the real thing?

Here’s our cheat sheet to the Mac-PC divide for startup tech firms.

Why having a Mac makes you a real tech founder

Three reasons why if you want to be seen as a serious tech founder, you’ve got to go Mac.

  1. UNIX — The fact that the Mac runs UNIX under the hood means it’s the right choice for a tech startup. Lots of system administrators are on the Mac because it comes with power tools for system gurus and programmers alike.
  2. Design — Having a Mac shows you care about how things look and feel. Especially if your tech startup is geared toward consumers, or its aesthetics are important, having a Mac shows you’ll pay attention to how technology fits into people’s lives.
  3. What’s new — Apple’s iOS is all the rage, and everybody’s building an iPhone app for their company, product, or service. Having a Mac (especially if you’ve matched it up with an iPhone or iPad) shows that you’re aware of the power and popularity of Apple’s App Store.

Why having a PC makes you a real tech founder

Three reasons why you need to get yourself a Windows PC to be taken seriously as a tech founder.

  1. Excel — A Windows laptop (especially if you’ve always got a big Excel spreadsheet up on the screen) shows that you’re a real number-cruncher. Excel on the Mac isn’t as fully functional as the PC version, so having a PC shows you’re a business brain, a numbers guru, a financial whiz.
  2. Power — A Windows PC is for serious power users. There are many more options for PC hardware and customization, so you can get exactly the size and speed of computer you need, and if you’re a savvy shopper and a build-it-yourselfer, you can often get more computing power for the money than you can with a Mac. Plus there is a vast ocean of applications for Windows, so if you’ve got a PC running specialized software it signifies to others that you’re doing hard-core tech work.
  3. What’s new — Lots of new technology comes out for the PC first, and isn’t available for the Mac until it proves itself over on the Windows side. So using a PC shows you want to stay on the cutting edge of what’s new in both software and hardware.

What do we advise? We have a long history of working with the Mac, but that doesn’t mean we think it’s right for everybody. It depends on many factors, including the applications you use, your work environment, and what helps you to be at your most productive. So explore your options, and do what’s best for you!

Editor’s note: Got a question for our guest blogger? Leave a message in the comments below.

About the guest blogger: Caroline Green is the Director of Business Development at IvanExpert. Her skills were honed in the publishing industry, where she worked for over a decade, most recently as the head of North American Sales, Marketing, and Publicity for illustrated book publisher Phaidon Press. Her thorough Mac knowledge means she is often the first line of tech support by phone to clients. She has been using a Mac since 1986. Follow her on Twitter at @ivanexpertmac.

Anne-Gail Moreland

Anne-Gail Moreland

Anne-Gail Moreland, an intern with Women 2.0, was on the StartupBus. She studies neuroscience at Mount Holyoke College, where she is trying to merge a passion for tech and the brain into a new wave of cognition-based technology

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