Article

Can you build a unicorn business outside the Silicon Valley?

Elizabeth Yin · elizabethyin.com Free Intermediate

A working seed investor answers plainly whether you can build a huge company away from Silicon Valley, and where the real tradeoffs sit. It is honest about what distance costs you (some networks) and what it saves you (runway, focus, less noise). Read it to plan around the gaps instead of pretending they are not there.

• Big companies do get built outside the hubs
• Distance costs some network but buys focus and runway
• Plan deliberately for the network you lack