The Winners and Losers of America’s Startup Economy

As Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area in general have become increasingly expensive for both companies and talented people, some commentators have argued that high-tech startups are spreading to smaller cities and metropolitan areas, many of which are in the industrial heartland. The emergence of startup hubs outside of cities that are already well known for entrepreneurship even has a catch-phrase—the “rise of the rest.” In the latest of several high-profile bus trips led by AOL founder Steve Case (and now author J.D. Vance), a group of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and investors set out in May to find the next generation of startups in places like Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Nashville.

But to what degree is the rise of the rest actually occurring? Is America seeing a significant shift in its geography of startups toward newer hubs?