Going with that premise, would you rather start your company in Oklahoma City or Boston? And if you are an investor, would you rather invest in a tech startup in Oklahoma City or Boston?
Finally, as an engineer, I highly value the quality of the area I live. There is literally nothing that could make me move to sprawling city like Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Atlanta, Houston, Phoenix, Detroit, etc. Nothing short of an environmental or man made disaster that made all highly desirable, walkable, densely packed cities unlivable.
And so it is with many people, I'm sure.
I hate big cities. They are so expensive and noisy and I abhor having to drive for more than 30 minutes at a time. The opportunity cost of all of the exciting marvels going on around you makes you feel like shit if all you want to do after work is drink and watch Netflix.
As great as big cities are, unless you are actively making the best of them, chances are you are living in the same ways most other people are: you use the same devices as everyone else to watch the same shows as everyone else. You get food delivered to your shelter-cubicle which anyone in a decently sized city can get as well. You go from boxes to boxes in boxes.
I like my small city. I like to get off the grid and go outside to hear nature. Turning off lets me channel my energy when I turn on.
I doubt I am alone.
This might be another reason, most companies probably have a tiny Coast office and say it's headquarters but have operations in another place -- to keep costs low.
Another thing is the speed at which a company can hire high quality engineers. Facebook now has 25 employees for every employee it had eight years ago. For a company taking off like a rocket, there is only one place where you can hire that many good engineers in that amount of time - San Francisco.
Microsoft's WA state employment is 3x Facebook's total employment. Amazon is similar.
No reason you can't set up in Joburg or Pittsburg.
If I'm smart, Oklahoma. Lower valuation, rent, salaries and less competition.
True that the team wouldn't be competitive young engineers that only live in cities like NYC or SF, but that's probably a good thing.
Take Iowa, South Dakota, Utah, Texas then. If you are a senior software engineer with a family, SF or NYC wouldn't be your top choice.
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