Where the Heat Is
The tradeoff between finding momentum and creating it
There’s a shift happening in how much location matters.
About ten years ago, it was understood that if you wanted to become a content creator, you had to go where the action was. Los Angeles.
It was the same for startups. If you wanted to become a founder, you were told to move to Silicon Valley because that’s where all the heat was.
Location has a huge role in both worlds. You’re around people who are working on similar things. You meet people you can learn from and people you can build with. To increase your chances of winning, you go where the heat lives.
It’s now more acceptable to not necessarily go where the heat is. You can build somewhere else. But knowing the opportunity cost is a huge part of that decision. You might have good reasons to stay where you are, but you’re giving up some of the access that comes with being there.
If you’re not going toward the heat, you need to put more work into creating it where you are.