GigaOM – Five Reasons to Move Your Startup Out of Silicon Valley

Howard Anderson, founder of The Yankee Group, a cofounder of Battery Ventures, and a professor of business at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology published a great article today on GigaOM about the merits of moving companies out of the Silicon Valley area.

When it comes to workforce planning, cost isn’t necessarily the only issue that comes in to play and Howard makes some great points about moving to Boston; Pittsburgh; Philadelphia; Austin; Research Triangle, N.C.; Minneapolis; Tallahassee; Toronto; and Basking Ridge, N.J or any number of other places.

You can read the article on GigaOm. There are five great reasons to move, to quote Mr. Anderson:

1. The weather sucks in some of these towns (not Tallahassee) so your people will actually work instead of bugging out at 5:15 to train for a marathon, triathlon or Ultimate Frisbee.

2. You can recruit better outside the fishbowl. Every technology company hits the wall — some multiple times. In the Valley your employees will bail at the first sign of trouble and jump to a better job in the next parking lot. That means you will have to spike salaries to rebuild your team. Other places in the world aren’t quite so spoiled – or they come to you already cynical and stay through the rough times.

3. You won’t get lost in the startup maze. In the Valley, every VC has a portfolio company in each flavor – their own LP’s can’t tell them apart.

4. In my experience, other startup communities aren’t as pre-occupied with the ‘exit’ as da Valley. SV VC’s have attention spans measured in picoseconds and will sell/merge your company at the first sign of trouble. I can say that in Boston, at least, we are used to gutting out long winters.

5. Academics make great board members. Each of these cities has a rich educational environment and are great places to recruit sartorial advisors. And unlike at Stanford, you wont have to give up 1 percent of your equity just to put the provost’s name on your board!

Mr. Anderson has a wealth of experience in this arena and brings up some valid points. When it comes to workforce planning and subsequent recruitment, loyalty, work ethic/habits, and accessibility all matter. Great article!

For startups, not all Ruby on Rails, Java, C#, Business Development gurus, and fundraisers are in the valley!