Do you have your heart set on California?

If not, the start-up scene is pretty good up here in the Seattle area. You can get decent 2-bedroom apartments for $1000/month downtown. Plus its very similar to San Francisco in culture and weather (our fog is just further up in the sky).

Denver is also getting popular for start-ups and housing there is cheap. You could also try Plano, Texas; similar thing going on there.