article thumbnail

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

Both Sides of the Table

It’s hard to get people to take a risk at a startup or for a reasonable salary with all this competition. Douglas Merrill, the former CIO of Google, is building his next company, ZestCash in LA. Each of these companies exited for more than $500 million and several north of $1 billion. It’s fucking hard hiring right now.&#.