The bay area is special from a funding/VC perspective. After pitching in Chicago, Boston, and SF; I've come to realize what makes the valley special: there are so damn many investors that they don't all know each other which reduces "group think."
In cities like Chicago, there are a handful of VCs that all talk to each other. If you pitch to one and they don't like your idea, they trade notes with their other VC buddies in the area and that's it. Your done. Pack up your bags and head to the next city. I could count the number of funded Chicago web startups with one hand.
In the valley there are so many investors with so much more experience willing to fund ideas that investors from other areas simply wouldn't touch. If you pitch to one guy and he doesn't like it, go pitch to another investor... and another... and another... it will be a while before you exhaust this list.
From my experience the bay area doesn't suffer from the same group think problems that most other areas in the world suffer from; including a sizable city like Chicago.
In cities like Chicago, there are a handful of VCs that all talk to each other. If you pitch to one and they don't like your idea, they trade notes with their other VC buddies in the area and that's it. Your done. Pack up your bags and head to the next city. I could count the number of funded Chicago web startups with one hand.
In the valley there are so many investors with so much more experience willing to fund ideas that investors from other areas simply wouldn't touch. If you pitch to one guy and he doesn't like it, go pitch to another investor... and another... and another... it will be a while before you exhaust this list.
From my experience the bay area doesn't suffer from the same group think problems that most other areas in the world suffer from; including a sizable city like Chicago.