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Some Thoughts on Branding Startups and Communities

Both Sides of the Table

World-class education including Caltech, USC and UCLA. ZestCash, founded by Douglas Merrill, former CIO of Google [Hollywood]. Idealab, led by Bill Gross, who founded Overture, CitySearch and MANY other business [Pasadena]. Home of JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), which helps put rockets into space. North of the 101].

Startup 304
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Can You Really Build a Great Tech Firm Outside Silicon Valley?

Both Sides of the Table

We have world-class universities like Caltech, UCLA, USC and more. Douglas Merrill, the former CIO of Google, is building his next company, ZestCash in LA. It is the second largest city in the country with (18 million inhabitants) (vs. million in SF Bay Area ). But LA is not Silicon Valley and we don’t need to aspire to be so.