Why entrepreneurs are leaving the Bay Area for their next startup

tech is one thing but sales is key

>Networking

Yeah, in SV you can hook up with all the USC and Stanford kids who bribed their way into college!

On a related topic, I’m wondering what careers are like for CS researchers in industry outside of Silicon Valley but still in the United States. My specialties are in systems software research (e.g., operating systems, distributed systems), machine learning, and databases. Most of the companies that I’m familiar with that do research in these areas are Silicon Valley-based, although there are some obvious options in Seattle (Amazon and Microsoft are headquartered there, and Facebook and Google have offices there). My ideal situation would be a culturally diverse area with a low-to-moderate cost of living. I like Silicon Valley due to its amenities and opportunities, but I could see myself starting a family within the next 3-5 years and I don’t think I’d be able to afford it in Silicon Valley unless I give up research, hit Leetcode really hard, and apply for a FAANG software engineering position.

The compiler folks at Microsoft are first rate and just good people.

SV isn't the best fit for a lot of startups. It really shouldn't be the default location for all startups especially since there are different options that offer different things (NYC, Denver/Boulder, Austin etc).

The Bay Area has 3 things that set it apart from anywhere else and startups that really need this have no other real choice:

Investors who are willing to invest super early

Lots of top tier engineers

An extremely optimistic culture

Investors- Our startup did fundraising on both east/west coast. Valuations, investor quality and potential help was relatively the same, but those in the the Bay Area were completely fine in investing in a pre-rev idea. That was, and still is inconceivable outside. A NYC fund flatly told us they will do no investments until we reach 50k MRR. That wasn't a requirement at SV and we got the initial seed funding as a result.

We do something very tech heavy and quite at the forefront in our field. We need really good engineers and most these types of specialists currently are employed at a Google or Facebook etc. In theory they should be super expensive and impossible to dislodge from these tech giants but what I find is that these super smart people get bored after a few years. They know their worth and that there will always be high paying jobs for them, but they can be persuaded to join a startup on a lot lower salary because they get a lot of freedom and ability to make a difference. A lot of the people that complain about expensive demanding engineers in SV are basically a bunch of PMs or salespeople who want a CTO to build a front end app. If you actually have interesting tech, finding engineers at a discount is quite feasible.

The last thing is about culture. It's like the YC interview day. We spent the entire day before and after the interview (and snuck in again the next) because the other teams you meet- the optimism and energy is infectious. It's the same feeling the morning of a marathon where you're worried it's too cold and wet, but the instant you see the crowd, everything feels right.

If you're doing something that counter-intuitive, and changes existing thinking, then culture is essential. Most startups, even in the accelerators, are ops businesses. They utilize tech, but business not tech is their key driver. There's nothing wrong with being that kind of startup, but if that is the case, then the Bay Area isn't a good a fit which is what this article says. Your customers aren't there, it's expensive, and there are other options. But if you do have a early crazy idea that is based around a key piece of tech, the Bay Area is still the best choice by far.