That was the goal when I moved to this city a few years ago. However, things have changed, people have relocated, and I feel the QOL in the city has gone down.
My question is simply: does it make sense to stay in San Francisco if I wish to start a technology company? Would moving away diminish my chances of success? Are the long touted factors of pools of talent and proximity to investors still at play?
I’d love to hear your opinion.
I don't know what your startup will do, so I can only speak in abstracts: - Will you need to network a lot? If so, you should be close to the people you want to network with. If not, you can reduce your expenses & improve your QoL by relocating. - Same question if you need to hire / collaborate with other people. More and more can be done remotely, but it is not always the best choice. - Is your future product influenced by where you are located?
Try to think of all the pros & cons of each option you have.
Edit: Entrepreneurship is a fairly "personal" journey (there are few universal answers), so you should ultimately do what you think is best for you.
Also, I would probably look to HQ in a cheaper cost of living city in a state friendly to business. All your top talent will be remote and you won’t have to pay them as much that way anyway.