Why It Makes Sense To Start Your Company Outside of The Valley

Disappointed. This actually reads like an eHow article. Almost all points are trivial, and are nothing more than pitching the other side of the coin (of why you should start your company in the Valley):

Indepedence? SV: Connected

Low Cost of Living? SV: Center of the Universe

Lower Wages for Top Talent? SV: Where talents are

Fewer Nearby Competitors? SV: Where the action (people/market) is

Relative Obscurity? SV: World renowned

I think the question is something most entrepreneurs in and out of the valley have thought about a lot, myself included. I personally very much like to see more action in Pittsburgh and Portland (OR). I don't think the author offers a very compelling, deep argument beyond what a content-farm author can put together in an hour or two.

>Top programmers in Portland or Raleigh-Durham (where Shoeboxed.com is located) don’t have as many lucrative opportunities to choose from

As a result, they may move to Silicon Valley.

The good thing about the valley is that there's a lot of talent around, investors and so on.

An average/bad entrepreneur should be able to weight the lifecost there and what you get from being in the valley... I thought this article would give me more insight about what's like to live there(and why I shouldn't), instead of giving obvious reasons.

Having going through raising startup capital for our business, the availability of it here in the Valley will make me think twice about trying to start a business anywhere else. The availability and accessibility of the angel and VC community is the reason so many businesses start here.

However, you will get enormously higher valuations - literally four to ten times or more - if you have the right connections in Silicon Valley. And you will get acquired more readily (very likely because of those same connections) in Silicon Valley. Until/unless companies outside the Bay Area get those same sorts of valuations - and largely they won't because the angel/VC infrastructure isn't there - it makes way more sense to move to Palo Alto.

Do your pivots quietly and cheaply in Detroit or Des Moines and once you have an executable and repeatable business model, then and only then consider the Valley.

One reason worth mentioning is that you can often get far better internet and smartphone connectivity outside the SF bay area.

You can obviously build a very successful company outside "The Valley." However, I view being in the entrepreneurial "hot spots" like having multiple founder with a technical background--it just increases your odds of success.

I'll probably open mine in Pleasanton or Dublin, CA. It is 30 miles NW of Silicon Valley, give or take a few miles. Here's why:

- Employees can get to these two cities using BART, 580, 680 or ACE trains. This allows me to make it easy for a diverse mix of employees to come work for me (tech, support, admin, mktng, research)

- Slightly lower COL. I don't know the exact number, but housing is a bit lower here than in San Jose/Santa Clara. It's generally a reverse commute.

- Same weather and cultural benefits that come with working in the Bay Area.

- Very low crime rate.

Isn't Groupon a Chicago company?

I agree that wages for top talent is lower outside the valley, but it's also very difficult to find that top talent.

Other reasons might be the family, kids. Plus if you know what are you doing, and the money is not a problem ,there is no need to be at some location. The guys that thing tat you should move in Silicon Valley are the venture capitalists and angel investors that don't want to move their ass.