There's undoubtedly a silicon valley advantage when it comes to doing actual silicon. Presumably there's an advantage on the software (and particularly interne

There's undoubtedly a silicon valley advantage when it comes to doing actual silicon. Presumably there's an advantage on the software (and particularly internet startup, as is the focus of the article) side of things as well. I find it hard to believe that so many companies are spending the extra $$ for a fancy mailing address. So how much of the advantage is just having a pool of experienced talent locally available? How much of a difference does being able to sit in front of a white board and hash out an idea with a coworker face to face make for an internet company? Is the nearby presence of hardware companies still a significant advantage in some way? Did all these people just move to silicon valley because it made sense to go where everyone else in the industry went? I was a bit disappointed that the article didn't really try to address these points. How