"Ecosystems should just stop making this argument. They’re never going to get top entrepreneurial talent, and will only attract those people not aiming high enough, who are motivated by saving money, not making it, and not building something great — the mercenaries, rather than the missionaries."
That's just a sweeping generalization offered without a shred of evidence. There are some phenomenally successful companies that were founded outside Silicon Valley or NYC. Amazon and Microsoft come to mind. (Microsoft may not be trendy now, but it definitely made its founders and shareholders a whole lot of money over a long period of time.)
Also, ten years ago, before there were a lot of startups in NYC, the author would have probably said that NYC was an entrepreneurial backwater that was "never going to get top entrepreneurial talent". Times change, places change, people move around.
I think he means that by "making this argument" (that is, 'hey, join us, we're based in a place with a low cost of living'), they’re never going to get top entrepreneurial talent. Not that they're never going to get top entrepreneurial talent at all because of where they are.
That's just a sweeping generalization offered without a shred of evidence. There are some phenomenally successful companies that were founded outside Silicon Valley or NYC. Amazon and Microsoft come to mind. (Microsoft may not be trendy now, but it definitely made its founders and shareholders a whole lot of money over a long period of time.)
Also, ten years ago, before there were a lot of startups in NYC, the author would have probably said that NYC was an entrepreneurial backwater that was "never going to get top entrepreneurial talent". Times change, places change, people move around.