I think comparing cities against cities might be a more apt comparison, especially normalized for available investment amounts, population, etc. Remember that a

I think comparing cities against cities might be a more apt comparison, especially normalized for available investment amounts, population, etc. Remember that a number of US states rival single European nations in GDP, population, physical size, etc. I'd rather talk about Berlin vs Austin, London vs Manhattan, Paris vs Boston. Second, is '# of $1B startups' even an important metric? Just like some employees prefer Europe for worker protections, smaller work weeks, paid maternity leave, healthcare unattached to employment status, etc, so some startups might find that their success has more to do with the markets they find themselves operating in and serving, rather than total income.