I'm familiar with the "creation story" but I question whether that is all necessary for other areas to thrive. Do I think that East BFE, Nowheresville is going to become the next Silicon Valley? No, probably not - but I don't know that it needs to. Twenty years from now, Google and Apple will probably still be at their respective California locations. But JohnDoe Co could be the biggest employer in <middle American city of 200,000> and do a lot of economic good there while reaping the benefits. Most of us don't need PE / VC like we think we do and there are plenty of good-enough universities around the country churning out new grads and attracting talented-enough researchers. This idea that we can only hire in coastal cities and from top-5 universities is all wrapped up in the same problem, and it doesn't make sense for the majority of businesses.