> California also gets a lot wrong that interferes with tech: … incredible corruption…

Indeed, it is literally “incredible”. What passes for corruption in California wouldn’t even be worth noticing on the older states of the east coast, especially the north east. I’ve lived in both.

I've lived in a few countries, but when I was on the East Coast I wasn't anywhere near noticing this. Happy to grant the point that it's better than the older economies of the East.

Non-competes is an interesting point, I always wonder how much it impacts innovation. Probably very hard to measure and isolate this impact. Current tech scene seems to be a combination of few things: remnants of semiconductor industry, great climate and beautiful outdoors. College system obviously is a factor as well.

non-competes is huge. I've personally been involved in a couple of startups in another country that got hammered by non-compete issues (once even just an implied non-compete). The fact that smart motivated folks can just up and leave a sinking ship and start a debt-free competitor next door relatively easily is a gigantic advantage that is absent is most jurisdictions.