New High Tech Headquarters: ‘the Cloud’
“Eventually, the founders of TOA Technologies headquartered in Cleveland. Why not? As they say: “On the Internet, no one knows you’re a dog” ” or in Cleveland or Mosul.”
–Thomas Friedman, “Makers and Breakers“; The NYT (11/9/2014)
I don’t know how much homes in Cleveland cost, but I’ve got a hunch it’s less than the average $2 million they go for in Palo Alto.
Call that reason #1 to consider locating a start-up somewhere other than Silicon Valley.
The Cost of Living Criterion
Reason #2: as Friedman’s article makes plain, when (almost) everything is cloud-based — data, collaboration, (crowd)funding, marketing, distribution — where you’re actually, physically located . . . suddenly doesn’t matter so much.
What does matter?
Such things as a strong, local education infrastructure; access to early stage financing; and a culture of nourishing start-up’s.
Thankfully, Silicon Valley needn’t have a monopoly on any of those things.