I agree that it helps to be surrounded by smart, creative people. I also think there are decreasing marginal returns to this benefit - are 1,000 smart people r

I agree that it helps to be surrounded by smart, creative people. I also think there are decreasing marginal returns to this benefit - are 1,000 smart people really that much more useful than 100 people for bouncing ideas off of? Is Seattle, Chicago or New York really so bad? More than the Bay area, it's how resourceful you are. Now I'm not saying the Bay Area is a bad place to be, just that you don't need to be there to come up with and work on an awesome idea. Better reasons to be in the Bay Area: Investors, investors, investors.