[arohner]

I'm not claiming there aren't huge downsides to being in SF. I'm claiming

- there are some advantages, but it depends

- the advantages depend on your target market, the stage of your company, and your desired direction, in terms of bootstrapping vs. raising

- you can't know ahead of time which way (SF vs. STL) will be more advantageous, and you can't repeat the experience, because the second time you'll have more experience, more talent, etc. This is a path-dependent experience.

Maybe if they did the startup in SF, they'd meet an advisor who changed the direction of the company to something even better, or maybe they wouldn't, in which case low cost of living in STL is an advantage. But pointing at cost-of-living alone isn't a useful comparison.