Obviously, Silicon Valley is the capital of the startup world. But would a startup that's successful there fail in New York?

My wariness about the Bay Area is mainly related to groupthink. Being surrounded by people who are all in the same industry, thinking about the same issues, talking about the same things, has obvious benefits. At the same time, it seems that the only companies that succeed, whether they're based in the Bay Area or not, are the ones that ignore an important piece of conventional wisdom. And that seems like it would be harder to do when you're immersed in it. If you don't want to drink the Kool-Aid, you should have some hesitation about moving to the factory.

The upside of New York specifically, and Boston too (besides the fact that they're beautiful, vibrant cities), is the cross-pollination you get by being in touch with different cultures and industries. In the right circumstances, that benefit could greatly outweigh the value of being in a place that has bigger-name VCs and contacts.

And lastly, Google's second-biggest office is in New York, so that may be the beginning of something very important there.

It comes down to raising money... New York's great, but it's exponentially easier for a social networking site to raise money in the Bay Area.

My vote is for San Francisco to become the new startup capital. Why not? :)

It depends. Most of the people are poseurs ... most of the VCs in particular are poseurs (many aren't even VCs per se) ... programmers who are slightly capable all work for investment banks and make hundreds of thousands of dollars ... AND EXPECT similar salary arrangements at a startup no matter how many times you try to explain to them that that's not how it's done at a startup.

On the other hand, if you DO manage to somehow cobble something together, I'd imagine that NY is a pretty exciting place to be and work your rear end off. Nothing like crawling out of your office late at night and walking a few blocks in Manhattan and finding more energy to keep up the pace in ... oh ... five minutes.

Are you in New York?

Are you in New York? Do you ask from the perspective of an insider or from that of someone considering a move there?