[guyzero]

"I've often wondered why startups locate in the SF/Bay area instead of elsewhere."

For a non-trivial number of startups, the founders were already working at a big tech company in the Bay Area before they started their own company.

For others it's access to investors or really critical employees. If you want someone who can build Amazon/Facebook/Google-scale datacenters, you're not going to have much luck in St. Louis.