One of the most realistic posts I've seen about Silicon Valley -vs- other startup petri-dishes.A combination of key success factors have given SV an unassailable lead, for the foreseeable future. It is quite unwise and ill-informed, to speak as if that weren't the case.But, as you've said, other places have started becoming viable for building one's entrepreneurial dreams. My startup, Althea Systems, is in Bangalore. We knew we were playing against the odds. And yet, within a few months of starting off, we raised the required angel money. And shortly afterwards came, a 3M$ series-A by Intel Capital. Yes, hiring hasn't been easy, but it hasn't been unduly worrisome either. It did take a bit longer to get noticed by the tech media / opinion makers (whereas one frequently hears duh-grade startup stories making it to the front pages of social media, due to their proximity to news/deal makers in SV [or NYC now]). Today, with Shufflr (our social video browser) getting a very encouraging response, we are happily going about building the products we want to take to our users. That's as pleasant a story you would probably hear, from any early stage tech-startup entrepreneur on the streets of the Silicon Valley.

Great post David! I was thinking of giving my far-fetched theory on this topic, but I feel sharing my personal experience might be worth more. I am currently involved with getting a start-up off the ground in the UK, Birmingham and if anyone would ask me whether I want to go to the Valley, my answer would be a definite yes. This is because the process of finding good people, even though it might have improved elsewhere in the US apart from the Valley, I feel it is insanely difficult over here. Sure, you can say I wasn't looking hard enough, but overall the density will certainly be nowhere higher than in SV. From so many people I have met and worked with, there is one who shows honest and full commitment to an idea. This is clearly not many.

Great article. Ironically I live in Central PA and are originally from Boston. I recently started a social media site with some partners who are still located in Boston. I have long held the view that it is about your customer base and not your industry that is more important so I haven't worried about not being located in Silicon Valley. I also believe that SV has become sort of an elitist environment and many there feel the need to become carbon copies of that.

This post's title should be “The Pro's and Con's Of Starting A Company Outside Silicon Valley”. You didn't really touch on *how* to build a company outside Silicon Valley- as the title suggests. Still a good piece. Cheers.

Good point Grant — the focus was indeed the pros and cons (in David's defense, I happen to know that the title was penned, as in many publications, by the publisher).For me, the main “how to” insight is the need to work with investors who have experience building the kind of company you want to build. The news, for some people, is that such investors can now be found outside the Valley. Furthermore, the geographical boundaries that tended to exist around specialized business building knowledge have been disappearing, thanks in part to social tools, some of which — and there is genuine irony here — were created in the Valley.Cheers.

Great article, David – and good news for Philly! Getting the early buzz and access might be easier in Silicon Valley, yes; but it's often a “mirror” effect of tech people in love with new technology. As you've experienced, being outside the Valley tends to make entrepreneurs more practical, especially for B-to-B companies. I was at SAP from its start in the US through the early 90s and have been working with QlikTech (among the top IPOs in 2010) for several years – both are based in the Philadelphia area. (It’s notable these two companies are not “home grown,” but originated in Europe.) I’m convinced that a large part of their success was being under the radar from the outset. Because of this, they had to make sure that all of the basics were in place first: an actual solution, reference customers and reliable partners. Talent for and commitment to these fundamentals exists outside of SV. And as mentioned, physical location isn't all that relevant most of the time – everyone can collaborate from anywhere virtually. You mention other US cities, but Paris is (perhaps surprisingly) a great microcosm for what makes effective (balanced) ecosystems for entrepreneurs, since all of the elements are together in one place: technology, talent, end customers, funding and media. That funding issue is a critical gap for Philly. Would be great if more local VCs had a more global view.

I am an expat American who moved from Silicon Valley in 1993 to Adelaide, Australia and cofounded a successful internet services company in 1999. The world is changing and your geographical location is far less important than it used to be and what matters most is the quality of your ideas and people.I've heard all the Silicon Valley propaganda that you must be located there to be successful, but I believe that view is greatly exagerated and outdated. Reality is most venture capitalist overrate their value add outside the money they bring to the table and in fact many are detrimental to a startup with their arrogance and lack of operating experience.I found the quality of available talent in Australia to be superior to that of Silicon Valley where there is fierce competition for quality talent and people job hop frequently. It is hard for a startup located in Silicon Valley to compete with Google, Facebook, Apple etc for the same talent. Because there are so many opportunities in Silicon Valley and so much money floating around a lot of mediocre ideas and people get funded. While have a sales presence where your customers and market is valuable, I found after an initial face to face meeting most business can be done by phone, email, skype, etc. With the internet you can keep very up to date with your industry although networking is still valuable this can be done by attending trade shows and the like.The main drawback in being located in Australia versus Silicon Valley is the lack of funding for early stage ventures and the lack of a customer base willing to try new innovative products from a small company.

[...] spokesperson Stephen Cobb yesterday morning came with surprise about the grim report. Check out CEO David Brussin’s VentureBeat column about doing business outside of the Valley, he said. As Brussin put it: But if you’ve started your company somewhere else – such as [...]

[...] dizer que você precisa estar em um centro de empreendedorismo para fazer o negócio acontecer. A Venture Beat tem um artigo que fala um pouco sobre abrir negócios fora do Vale e que pode inspirar você, como [...]

[...] How to build a tech startup outside of Silicon Valley – David Brussin, VentureBeat [...]