Having been in a "ho-hum that's nice" environment and a "let's murder the competition" environment, I would say it goes beyond THINKING you NEED to be a US base

Having been in a "ho-hum that's nice" environment and a "let's murder the competition" environment, I would say it goes beyond THINKING you NEED to be a US based startup company. The fact of the matter is that your environment defines who you are, as a person. Why would that not matter for your company? Can the environment be replicated somewhere else? Sure, with the right amount of luck. But people who think environment doesn't matter are fooling themselves.