
Startup Hotbed Inferiority Complex - sanj
http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/07/startup-hotbed-inferiority-complex.html
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pg
"the creative cost of living in an echo chamber"

I've never heard anyone who used this expression offer any evidence or
argument to back it up, and this post is no exception.

Till a few months ago I used to live half the time in the Valley and half the
time in Boston. I never noticed Boston startups getting any creative boost
from not being in the Valley. If anything, it was the opposite: they tended to
be constrained by lack of confidence, and by the conservatism of the local
investors.

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ivankirigin
A very smart guy says "ignore everybody" to be creative. Maybe that's harder
when there are more people around a lot like you, but not quite.
<http://www.changethis.com/6.HowToBeCreative>

~~~
pg
Sounds good in principle, but if you look at the matter empirically, very
creative people almost invariably cluster in hubs. Empirically you seem to
lose more from being in a backwater than you gain.

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ivankirigin
Those hubs can be online. Hugh is always on Twitter and often in the bay area.

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mgrouchy
Currently I don't run a startup nor do I work for a startup(I know, what am I
doing on hacker news!), but this is something I think about a lot.

I live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada which has a fairly lively technology
community and what seems to be a growing startup community and it always gets
me to wondering whether the Silicon Valley thing is just hype or whether it
really is the place to be.

The main thing I always consider in this(especially when i consider possibly
starting my own startup) is whether it is hype or not. Maybe it becomes a self
fulfilling prophecy that Silicon Valley will always be king if all the best
talent moves to silicon valley to start or work with new startups.

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jacquesm
The web is a great leveler, but when it comes to securing funding (in a later
stage of your project) it really helps if you are in the neighbourhood of
potential investors.

Other than that if you're self funded and you have a project that has a clear
business driver making money from the start then it might actually be an
advantage to _not_ be in an expensive area.

First of all your retention of employees will be higher, second your cost of
living and your salaries and expenses will be lower.

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ericwaller
Sure, a lot of successful tech companies come out of Silicon Valley, but
there's a disproportionate amount of tech companies in Silicon Valley to begin
with. It's certainly not obvious that the success rate is any higher there.

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pg
You could use the same argument to "prove" that the hub of any industry is not
a particularly good place to do that kind of work. By the same reasoning, LA
is not a particularly good place to make movies, or New York to run a hedge
fund.

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eugenejen
When Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were working on their Apple I, Apple II in
garage, the hottest computer company then were in Boston like DEC.

Of course both Jobs and Wozniak were lucky to get an angel investor, Mike
Markkula, due to Intel's wealth from its IPO.

So the important parts are those:

1\. You are good enough.

2\. you can meet someone who is rich enough, understands the process of
starting a tech company,is willing to risk his/her fortune to help you out
while taking a good windfall later, if you are really good.

It is easier in SV. But there are all those people in start up hotbeds. I
guess the problem is where and how to meet them. But as we all know. Rich
people hates people come forward to ask for money without showing something
interesting first.

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jasonlbaptiste
Here's how I've always looked at it. It's retarded to think a startup cannot
succeed anywhere. You can do ALL the things you need from the middle of Iowa,
and still kill it. Here's what you're NOT given in Iowa? All the opportunities
and resources you COULD have. By being in Silicon Valley, you have the maximum
amount of opportunity and resources to succeed. Think of it like playing a
video game: sure you could win with the basic pistol they give you, but it's
probably best to face the game boss with a rocket launcher.

The other main question is scaling a company. If you're doing the typical
venture back startup thing, then scaling is a huge issue. You need access to
capital and talent to the point you can grow the company from 3=>30=>300
people. That's hard to do, especially on the engineering side outside of most
startup hotbeds. If you're in a crappy city for a startup, think right now if
you could go recruit 50 of the brightest engineers in the next 18 months
there.

So in short a) you don't need to be in the valley to succeed, at least in the
short term b) the valley can give you the maximum opportunities c) think about
how the current city you're in can help you scale the startup when (or if) it
needs to grow heavily, but don't think about it too soon.

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mikeryan
This whole subject seems to circle around here fairly often and it seems like
there's not a clear cut answer. There are some advantages to Silicon Valley
and some disadvantages. But at the end of the day you just need to build the
right project with the right team. Get those two right and the rest is gravy.

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yan
Ok so what is Fred saying here? Defending generalizations by specific examples
is fairly pointless. He almost confirmed the argument by citing examples!

"Deep down inside, every entrepreneur working outside of the bay area worries
that they are not as competitive and will not be as successful because they
are not in Silicon Valley" well, if it is indeed easier to meet people in the
Bay Area and to meet other entrepreneurs, then sure you are at a disadvantage
being elsewhere. Doesn't mean you won't get anywhere, just means you'll need a
different plan.

Generalizations will always have counter-examples and I think it's very silly
to take them to heart as I believe Fred did.

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jlees
This is quite interesting given the "London startup scene is dead, world
revolves around Silicon Valley" post by Paul Carr from today too. What gives?
You can succeed anywhere; some parts of it may be easier in the Valley, but
it's not the _only_ place successful businesses are growing by any means.

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GrishaRemake
I think it all depends on people's personality type. Extrovert will be more
successful when he lives in a startup hotbed. Introvert doesn't need anybody,
he can live anywhere he likes.

