I’m new the the bay area. In my quest to gain local knowledge of the historical happenings of this place I’ve been boning up on its design, architecture and role in various social and political movements. One such movement was the infamous Summer of Love which drew over 100,000 people as participants to a social experiment centered on the rejection of traditional American consumerism and values. Free food, free love, free drugs. A free for all which filled San Francisco, and the surrounding neighborhoods with hippies in search of purpose. Or, maybe just in search of a good time.

As the summer of 1967 drew to a close, the locals staged a mock funeral they called “The Death of the Hippie”. Why kill an image and ideology which put the bay area on the map? The funeral organizer Mary Kasper explains,

We wanted to signal that this was the end of it, don’t come out. Stay where you are! Bring the revolution to where you live. Don’t come here because it’s over and done with.

As I look at the sale of Estonia born Skype, the Chinese IPOs soaring on Wall Street and the IPO pipeline filled with non-Bay Area companies like Groupon (Chicago) and FusionIO (Salt Lake City) I can’t help but think that the bay Hippie ideal of entrepreneurship; namely, that you need to be in the bay area to really matter, needs its own funeral.

This isn’t about NYC vs. Silicon Valley. This is a recognition that the technology revolution and entrepreneurial ideals that pump through the veins of Silicon Valley are surging and recombining in new markets all over the world. They may not look or act like Silicon Valley companies but they have our revolutionary DNA that’s adapted to their native habitats. To suggest anything otherwise, or worse, force them to move from areas they can thrive  as a condition of investment suggests an outdated world view (one I’ve been guilty of in the past).

Sure there are benefits to living in the bay area. I’ve been here 9 months and can see first hand some of the things that I’ve been missing out on. But for all the positives there are negatives as well- hiring, congestion, cost of living, bankrupt state government. Just like anywhere there are pros and cons, but the old way of thinking that you need to be here has never been less true.

Just looking at our portfolio I see companies thriving in places like London, Boston, New York City, Madison, Los Angeles, San Diego AND San Francisco. With the technology and talent available today entrepreneurs have the tools to bring the revolution to where they live. The idea that every tech company needs to be in the Bay Area is dead and buried. May it Rest in Peace.