Brian Oberkirch Discusses Relevance of Location to Tech Startups

“We don’t even have to really debate whether or not people can start web companies in a variety of places,” Brian Oberkirch says, “but how do you do it when you are not in a place like the Bay Area?” That’s the topic of discussion in the latest Disruptive Dialogue.

(Click here to listen to the 13 minute interview.)

The discussion took place in the wake of a blog post that Brian wrote recently titled “Location, Location, Location (doesn’t matter as much.”  Based in Louisiana, Brian knows a bit about working outside of Silicon Valley as a web entrepreneur and advisor.

Topics discussed include networking ideas, thoughts on sharing office space with other web types to build a greater sense of community, and the notion of companies having remote, virtual teams.

I suggested that perhaps companies in the technology hotbed may focus more on building to flip, while outside of the Bay Area, entrepreneurs seem more focused on building sustainable companies that may well get acquired, but that’s not the sole focus.  Brian thought that the there is definitely a different mindset in a “company town” like the San Francisco region that looks to behemoths like Google and Apple, but he wasn’t certain that there was a difference in the sustainability aspect.

Brian notes that talent in Silicon Valley is just as hard to find as elsewhere, just for different reasons.  The talent pool may be larger for engineers in San Francisco, but the demand is much higher as well.

Bottom line, according to Brian: “Location may not be as much of a barrier as it used to be.”