[jedberg]

As someone who just started a company in California, I can tell you why I did it. The main reason is because I already live here. My family lives here, as it has for the last three generations.

I like the fact that I get great weather year round, that I live amongst a diverse group of people, and can get just about any kind of food I want very close by. I like that my child will go to school with people of all colors and religions and beliefs. And my cost of living is lower in the sense that I don't have to pay a ton of money for heating in the winter and cooling in the summer, nor for a bunch of clothes I can only wear 1/2 the year.

As for the business, yeah, it's not great, I'll admit that. I don't like paying extra corporate taxes for no apparent reason (I'm incorporated in Delaware, why am I paying CA tax?). And I may not even hire here, since I'm fully remote and hiring in other states is viable for me.

But if I were going to open an office and hire local, I would most definitely do it here in California, where a lot of the talent live and a lot of the people I would want to hire who like the same things I do.