I've never heard anyone who used this expression offer any evidence or argument to back it up, and this post is no exception.
Till a few months ago I used to live half the time in the Valley and half the time in Boston. I never noticed Boston startups getting any creative boost from not being in the Valley. If anything, it was the opposite: they tended to be constrained by lack of confidence, and by the conservatism of the local investors.
A very smart guy says "ignore everybody" to be creative. Maybe that's harder when there are more people around a lot like you, but not quite. http://www.changethis.com/6.HowToBeCreative
Sounds good in principle, but if you look at the matter empirically, very creative people almost invariably cluster in hubs. Empirically you seem to lose more from being in a backwater than you gain.
I've never heard anyone who used this expression offer any evidence or argument to back it up, and this post is no exception.
Till a few months ago I used to live half the time in the Valley and half the time in Boston. I never noticed Boston startups getting any creative boost from not being in the Valley. If anything, it was the opposite: they tended to be constrained by lack of confidence, and by the conservatism of the local investors.