[farzinadil]

There are benefits from economies of agglomeration that are lost when relocating to distant areas for affordability which is the main reason the midwest or other parts of the country haven't been able to scale up startup economies. If everyone (founders, investors, employees, customers, vendors, etc.) are in one area, it facilitates better collaborations and also increases chances of random collisions. Employers get wider pool of talent; employees get greater options of employers that they can bounce around without having to relocate.

Edit (meant to add): I believe these factors explain this better than simply reputation or prestige.

[ryukoposting]

You have a point, to be sure. For context, I live in Milwaukee and work for a Chicago startup. I recently found out that my current CEO is friends with someone I used to work with at a previous Chicago startup.

For fully or mostly-remote workplaces, to what extent does "economies of agglomeration" affect that company, relative to a more traditional workplace?

Also, in my experience, startups don't benefit from a plain ol' big talent pool in the same way that larger companies do. Startups require a very particular kind of talent, one whose supply is very limited no matter where you go, and doesn't correlate solely with total population. Here in the midwest, that supply seems to be directly correlated with proximity to the big engineering schools, which is why I mentioned the Big 10 (MSOE is also held in very high regard regionally, but again: prestige matters). Every Chicago startup I'm aware of has some tie to Northwestern, for example.