Don’t believe the Silicon Valley hype

Am I the only person who reads articles like these and gets the suspicion that this is less about how great Austin is (and it is a great city with some top-notch hackers living there), but basically a thinly veiled advertising opportunity for a software company that is trying to link its success to a larger (and largely disconnected) issue?<p>I'm not even sure who the audience of this is. Investors? I doubt any savvy VB-reading investors are unaware that there are great technology companies in Austin, New York, Portland, Chicago, and many other cities. In fact, the author appears a little out of the loop by talking about "The Valley" when businesses have been heading north to the Peninsula for years now.

&#62; I feel it’s actually a competitive advantage &#62; to build startups outside of Silicon Valley<p>In some ways this is true. We're in Scottsdale, AZ and have lured two senior people <i>from</i> SV. Granted, they admitted to some irritation with the SV culture, it wasn't really hard. But the incredibly lower cost of having a business here means were capable of offering fair market salaries, not typical low salaries + equity of most SV startups.<p>While the talent pool is smaller, the competition for that talent is almost nonexistent... so hiring was easier to some degree.<p>And if you play golf... well...

<i>guess-post=puff-piece-for-his-company</i> issue aside, the article is kinda just stating the obvious... which is that you should geographically place your startup where it makes most based on the type of company you are building.<p>Many folks are already living in SF/Bay Area and start their company without thinking that maybe it would be better to do it elsewhere.<p>I live in SF yet my own startup, WP Engine, is based in Austin because we're very operations and server orientated. I wouldn't start that kind of company in the Bay Area as there's just no advantage. We now have some Marketing and Strategy presence here, but operations remains firmly in Austin.<p>Equally, I personally wouldn't put a heavily social-orientated company in Austin as there are many important partners you need to get chummy with to succeed who are based in SF/Bay Area.<p>It's just about weighing up what labor and partners you need, and putting your company where it needs to be. Not everyone can do that (family ties, visas, etc) but if you're already in the Bay Area it does make sense to consider whether moving out would benefit your startup.

The author still thinks that you need to pack it up and go somewhere to succeed. That message sidesteps the real debate: whether you can "stay home" with your startup. Most people that are willing to move end up in Silicon Valley.