Chicago's a great city, and I've spent a lot of time there. But....
- It's cold.
- The academic environment itself is better in general business. Two top MBA programs, but the best engineering school is far down state.
- It has winter.
- The ecosystem supports growth, but not hypergrowth. Companies like BaseCRM do well starting there, but move to Silicon Valley when it's time to explode.
- Snow without mountains
- Not as socially, ethnically or culturally diverse as many other tech hubs.
- It's cold.
- The academic environment itself is better in general business. Two top MBA programs, but the best engineering school is far down state.
- It has winter.
- The ecosystem supports growth, but not hypergrowth. Companies like BaseCRM do well starting there, but move to Silicon Valley when it's time to explode.
- Snow without mountains
- Not as socially, ethnically or culturally diverse as many other tech hubs.
- Did I mention that it's cold?
All that said, I love to visit in the summer.