Not sure that's entirely accurate: http://www.citylab.com/tech/2016/01/the-rise-of-global-startup-cities/426780/ http://www.citylab.com/tech/2016/01/the-rise-of

Not sure that's entirely accurate: http://www.citylab.com/tech/2016/01/the-rise-of-global-startup-cities/426780/ http://www.citylab.com/tech/2016/01/the-rise-of-global-start... While SF and SJ lead the pack, it's far from a power law distribution. To be fair, much of the venture deals in Boston / San Diego are life sciences / biotech, and that does you relatively little good if you're a software startup. Totally agree about terms though. Non valley investors tend to target much lower valuations and stipulate weird conditions. This is partly a function of outsized outcomes being fairly rare in tier 2 and tier 3 markets though, so it's not exactly irrational for investors to assume a lower EV for a startup and price it accordingly. What you really lose is this honest-keeping function that you get when there's sufficient competition for deals. Fear of being excluded or seen as "unfriendly" to founders tends to keep potential bad actors in line, which reduces some of the deal hair and benefits the overall ecosystem.