Startup Houston

Berggi announced last week that they have relocated their global headquarters to Silicon Valley to build a global center for product marketing and product management for a series of new mobile services and solutions. Startup Houston wrote about Berggi upon their latest funding earlier this year.

Although I suspect that Berggi’s decision to relocate from Houston to Silicon Valley is more a matter of the management team in this particular case, there is reason for concern as another promising startup departs from the Houston scene. This departure usually happens for several reasons:

1. The lead venture capitalist does not have a local investor partner to help manage the company;
2. The investment community tells the company that it needs to be in the Bay Area to be taken seriously;
3. The company feels that it will not have adequate access to talent in Houston.

Whereas these are all valid concerns, companies need be careful with this line of reasoning. I think back to my childhood reading of a favorite Dr. Suess book, I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew in which the protagonist:

“a typical Seuss hybrid who’s part bear, part puppy, and part beyond categorization–has an innocent, carefree life, until it’s ruined by minor problems. With a toe stubbed, and a tail bitten by a Quilligan Quail (”And I learned there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead, and some come from behind”), he sets out on an ill-fated journey to find a better, less troublesome place: the fabled city of Solla Sollew, no less, “on the banks of the beautiful River Wah-Hoo,/ Where they never have troubles. At least very few.” Like most dreamlands, Solla Sollew is harder to attain than expected–nobody seems to know how to get there, and the journey is far worse than anyone anticipated. When the fair city is finally attained there is, of course, a last straw; but a happy twist suggests troubles may be better faced than escaped.”

What do you think?