The challenges of building a tech company outside of Silicon Valley

What are the biggest challenges of building a tech company outside of Silicon Valley?

Every Friday, we’re answering your questions about business, startups, customer success and more.

Every Friday, we’re answering your questions about business, startups, customer success and more.

Happy Friday!

This week’s question is:

This is a question that comes up a lot.

I started Groove from my house in Newport, Rhode Island.

Not San Francisco or Silicon Valley.

Not New York.

Not Boston.

Not really anywhere that would be considered a place with a real “startup ecosystem.”

At the time, I did find myself thinking a lot about the challenges that being “off the beaten path” came with, but in retrospect, those challenges were mostly superficial ones.

Sure, some investors are less likely to find your company interesting enough to look at because of your location. You don’t want those investors anyway.

The tech press is less likely to cover you. But tech press coverage, overall, has probably been the least valuable marketing exposure that we’ve had.

You can’t find top talent by stepping outside your front door. But you’re also not competing⁠—and paying exorbitant prices⁠—for that talent with hundreds of massively funded startups and huge companies.

These challenges are easy to be scared by at the start, but as you grow, you realize that they exist only on the surface.

To me, the benefits of living my life in the place I want, and building a remote team that does the same, far outweigh the challenges.

Grow Blog
Alex Turnbull

Alex is the CEO & Founder of Groove. He loves to help other entrepreneurs build startups by sharing his own experiences from the trenches.

Read all of Alex's articles

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