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Copyright © 2015 by Timothy Sprinkle
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
BenBella Books, Inc.
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First e-book edition: January 2015
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sprinkle, Timothy.
Screw the valley : a coast-to-coast tour of America’s new tech startup culture : New York, Boulder, Austin, Raleigh, Detroit, La s Vegas, Kansas City / by Timothy Sprinkle.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-940363-30-1 (hardback)—ISBN 978-1-940363-54-7 (electronic) 1. High technology industries—United States. 2. New business enterprises—United States. 3. Computer industry—United States. 4. Entrepreneurship— United States. I. Title.
HC110.H53.S69 2015
338'.040973—dc23
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To Kristin, for making this happen,
and Harold, for convincing me it was
worth doing in the first place.
Contents
Introduction
“Entrepreneurs embody the promise of America. The idea that if you have a good idea and are willing to work hard and see it through, you can succeed in this country. And in fulfilling this promise, entrepreneurs also play a critical role in expanding our economy and creating jobs.”
—President Barack Obama, January 2011
SHORTLY BEFORE his scheduled State of the Union address in January 2011, President Barack Obama, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and a group of leaders from the private industry set off on a road trip through the hard-hit upper Midwest—the socalled “Rust