That's an interesting point about SF vs. the peninsula. I can't think of any startups that made it big out of san francisco - though I'm sure there must be som

That's an interesting point about SF vs. the peninsula. I can't think of any startups that made it big out of san francisco - though I'm sure there must be some (anyone willing to suggest a few?) There's craigslist, or course - which should has been very successful even though they haven't cashed in. I'm not sure that the distractions are the problem, though. Personally, I think the distractions of SF help me a bit. The vibe gets me more charged up to work. I think it has more to do with the heavy concentration of non-tech related law and finance companies. One key to a tech center is that programmers, designers, and people with a start-up mentality are more likely to bump into each other. I live in the city, and walking around, you're much more likely to bump into a lawyer or finance person. And these aren't the lawyers who do startups (who you probably do bump into in the valley), they're the ones who do condo conversions.