This article made my day. While living in the SF Bay Area I definitely fell victim to the "you can only really succeed here" mentality. It's easy to do when so

This article made my day. While living in the SF Bay Area I definitely fell victim to the "you can only really succeed here" mentality. It's easy to do when so many people seem to be succeeding, not realizing that's a function of so many more people simply trying. When we decided to leave and go back east, it only took about 200 miles of driving to see that mental bubble burst. Of COURSE you can be successful elsewhere. It all depends on your attitude, persistence and motivation. I've made it my personal mission to foster the tech startup community here in Charlotte, meeting as many talented people as I can and bringing them together. I started our local chapter of Hackers and Founders, and frankly I've been shocked at the level of energy and talent I've discovered. There are plenty of folks participating in startups here and there are also plenty of folks with money to bankroll the ideas. Even if you need money from outside of Charlotte, getting on an airplane is easy. At the end of the day, I choose to live here because it's fun, friendly and has access to the beach, mountains and great weather. The fact that it's also affordable means I can focus on building my business, not finding a huge salary just to pay the rent.