I know this is the smallest part I could take out of the post.. but Fremont - Ghetto? Maybe OP meant East Palo Alto, or Oakland, but IMO Fremont is one of the safest, homey places to live in the Bay Area.

But then again, maybe I'm hanging out on that "One Block" - But I guess that block encompasses 12mi^2 :-).

More on topic - I wouldn't agree completely. Some startups are new completely, some are building things a little bit better, some are just using technology to re-invent something for the 21st century. If you're limiting your example startups then you can make any point you want.