My background is somewhat similar to yours. I'm from a small(ish) Canadian town as well (Whistler, BC). I've always had big ideas, didn't know how to get them o

My background is somewhat similar to yours. I'm from a small(ish) Canadian town as well (Whistler, BC). I've always had big ideas, didn't know how to get them out there. I was fortunate that I had been working back and forth in LA, and was exposed to some people and expertise, but for my first start-up, I was in Whislter, teaching myself how to code, no other programmers locally, no tech community etc etc. I think in some ways it can be a benefit more than a hindrance. You get to focus on your idea and just get it done. I've spent a lot of time in the Valley, as well as other start-up hubs, and I can tell you, a lot of the people in these places are just full of talk, a lot of it is just a bubble and echo chamber. On the flip side, it's great to have a sounding board of knowledgeable people, that's what's so great about getting feedback from HN. However, if you look where you are, you've probably got better access than you think. You don't have to run all the way to California, Montreal, Boston and NYC all have great tech communities, and you don't have to move there. Find interesting meetups that are around the area you're idea is, and go for a night or two (assuming you can get the time off work). If your market is as large as you think, you might even find something in Halifax. The Valley is cool and all, but I was very surprised the last time I went to the HTML5 conference, most of the people there where actually quite behind on the technology stack/experience compared to the people I work with in Sydney, Australia. One thing to consider, when you think about the faraway magical land of Silicon Valley, though the valley has a large number of unique technologies and businesses, most people are still working on your basic I/O type apps.