As a Purdue grad who spent a decade in Silicon Valley and who currently works remote for a FAANG in a state adjacent to yours: Didn't go to the coast for the big starting salary. Went for the interesting job, the flexibility to move to another job without renting a new apartment, and the career growth. Best career choice I made.

Good for you starting a tech company outside the tech meccas, it's a hard road. Remote work might help you. In an remote work world, you are on a level playing field.

As it relates to the SVB bailout. There's a strong libertarian streak in SV. While it might be entertaining to watch the hypocrisy unfold, I'm pretty certain these folks read hackernews and I'd like them to have a bit of self reflection about the role of government now that SVB has imploded.