FWIW I'm working on a tech startup far away from SF, so it's possible. However we're arguably not a startup since we're not really engineered for hypergrowth as

FWIW I'm working on a tech startup far away from SF, so it's possible. However we're arguably not a startup since we're not really engineered for hypergrowth as much as slowly and methodically building a self-funded, profitable product company. As such issues like raising funding and hiring quickly are not things we're concerned with, which might be why we're doing fine outside of SF. When we do hire it's 100% remote so our location isn't hurting us in that regard. We feel like this is the best choice for our company as we retain 100% ownership and can focus on a straightforward business model of selling people a product that solves their problem at a fair price. Arguably the possible upside would be higher if we tried to go the VC route and get huge fast, but then the potential downside goes up as well. This way we're working ourselves into what amount to incredibly high paying jobs while also owning the asset that is the company.