I know it has been over a week since Paul Graham spoke at the FOWA conference in London and basically told everyone why it makes sense for startups to be located in a startup hub city (basically in Silicon Valley, but he does tip his hat to other “hubs” in the US).

He sure did seem to rub a lot of people the wrong way by his speak, so much that at the end of his talk one of the organizers of the event got up on stage and delivered his retort. I understand where Paul was coming from when he stated that startups are better served to be located in one of the startup hub cities, but that does not mean that is the only way that a startup will survive. It is a little self righteous for him or anyone else to think that the only way to make it big is to be in one of those cities, there are plenty of successful startups operating in non “startup hub” cities (Feedburner, Threadless, Scrapblog, Moo just to name a few). I, and I am sure countless others, are tired of hearing how the only way for your startup to work is to be in a hub city, for many, being in one of those cities is just not desirable for whatever reason.

Success is like beauty, it is in the eyes of the beholder. Many startups are started to be a lifestyle business, not to be the next YouTube. If that is your intent, being in a non startup hub city is completely fine. Even if you want to be the next YouTube, it does not mean that you have to uproot and make the pilgrimage to the Valley, it just means that you may need to work a little harder to get where you want to be, which in the long run, may make you and your company much better as a result.

There is no denying that the Valley and Boston have an abundance of all the right ingredients to make a startup successful (good universities, talented individuals, investors and money), but those alone to not guarantee success. There are plenty of other cities that have the same ingredients, take a look at what Lance Weatherby has to say about Atlanta and you will understand (Lance, BTW, is a fellow startup weekend organizer of mine. He in Atlanta, me in DC.).

Bottom line, if you are running a startup and you are not in a “startup hub” city, it does not mean that you will not make it. You will have to work harder for it, but in the end, it will be that much sweeter.