I can certainly think of German cities with advantages over Berlin.
Karlsruhe for instance has an extremely awesome scientific community, its university is in fact home to the oldest computer science faculty in Germany and coincidentally was the first place in Germany to have leased-line Internet connectivity (in 1989). There's an abundance of excellent engineers coming out of the university which is definitely a plus when you're staffing a startup. Also, much nicer weather compared to Berlin and a much more affluent region with better infrastructure and more companies.
Frankfurt/Main also comes to mind, the secret Internet capital of Europe and home to the largest Internet exchange in the world (DE-CIX).
I guess it's just that these cities aren't as sexy and hyped as Berlin.
I used to spend a lot of time in Karlsruhe and like it, but it is fairly quiet, and for someone like twitter not having flights from the US might be an issue, though the train from Frankfurt is pretty quick.
It does also have the most extensive tram system in Europe.
Karlsruhe for instance has an extremely awesome scientific community, its university is in fact home to the oldest computer science faculty in Germany and coincidentally was the first place in Germany to have leased-line Internet connectivity (in 1989). There's an abundance of excellent engineers coming out of the university which is definitely a plus when you're staffing a startup. Also, much nicer weather compared to Berlin and a much more affluent region with better infrastructure and more companies.
Frankfurt/Main also comes to mind, the secret Internet capital of Europe and home to the largest Internet exchange in the world (DE-CIX).
I guess it's just that these cities aren't as sexy and hyped as Berlin.