[moms_computer]

The author appears to put too much stress on physical proximity to other entities. Perhaps it's a factor to consider if you are not serving an online population, but such startups are really few and far between... especially as far as HN is concerned :)

[mmarjala]

Physical proximity is a great advantage to understand the real local problems. Example: It is very tough for US companies serve Chinese or Russian markets, as the cultures are so different and local problems quite different to problems in US - or Finland. It depends on the category and domain ... but even gaming preferences are quite different in different regions. Very few hit games that work everywhere - the one area where we Finns really rock the world (Angry Birds, Clash of Clans etc.)