NutShell Mail is moving to Silicon Valley

I recently learned that NutshellMail has decided to move their offices from Houston to Silicon Valley (see the announcement here). This move should be no surprise to those that have been tracking Nutshell Mail’s progress, seeing as how they were recently selected to join Facebook’s fbFund Rev Incubator Program and now have a great introduction into how business in the Valley works and are now a part of the deal flow.

For those of you who are not familiar, NutShellMail is a free, hosted service that transforms any email account into a universal inbox.  It allows you to monitor all your email and social networking accounts directly through the email account you use most (and its free).  Mark Schmulen and crew at NutShellMail have also been very supportive of Houston’s startup community, hosting different tweetups and coworking events, as well as being regular attendees at Houston’s BarCamps and  HTC/StartupHouston Coffee Clubs and Happy Hours in the past.

In their blog post, Nutshell Mail had some great things to say about Houston, but at the end of the day said they chose to stay in Silicon Valley due to the fact that the entire business climate there revolves around startups.  Here is an excerpt of their post:

Just the other day, standing in an elevator we landed a meeting with the founder of billion-dollar software company who has invited us to come to his office to discuss a potential business development deal. Technology is not just an economic driver in the Valley, it is a way of life.

We wish Mark Schmulen, David Lyman, Nirav Batavia, and all the rest of the crew there the best of luck in their new offices in Silicon Valley, but I can’t let them go without a challenge.   I only ask that you guys remember your roots and come back to us on occasion (like Matt Mullenweg has done) and share the lessons that you have learned so that we can continue to grow the startup community here.  You have been great ambassadors for Houston and I hope that continues to be the case.

On a similar note, I would like to ask all readers what they think it will take for Houston to continue to build a more vibrant startup community that is able to fund and retain top talent.  Leave your thoughts in the comments.