The talk itself was awesome and the questions afterwards where fun. What I didn't quite get was why Ryan Carson claimed startups can happen everywhere, while PG took a more Valley-based standpoint. Kind of like a slap in the face or something?

I don't think pg's position contradicts the claim that startups can happen anywhere. All I've ever seen him claim is that a startup is far more likely to be successful in the bay area rather than elsewhere -- just like he has said that a startup is far more likely to be successful if it has 2-4 founders rather than a sole founder or more than 4 founders.

Given sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine -- but most pigs don't have sufficient thrust, and as a result most things which fly aren't pigs.

Not to disregard the benefit of community, but a reason the bay area may appear a more successful location is that there are many startups there. For each success, how many failures?

PG has mentioned his view that the VCs are more aggressive in the valley. More failures is probably a sign of more aggressive VCs, evidence supporting his reasoning as to why the valley is better than other places for starting a company.

You are right, while startups can happen anywhere, they are most likely to succeed in the bay area, for example, our startup is based in Lima, Peru.

It's difficult to raise money here, or even getting media coverage.

I believe that if you have the right environment you have more chances to succeed.

"Given sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine"

LOL, that's a good one.

Any has a link to a video/audio of the talk?