I assume being in Silicon Valley means you are around other tech startups and people in the tech industry. Half of being a startup is getting industry connections and getting your name in the paper.

A friend of mine in that area gets a ton of networking done in person, visiting mixers held by Google and Meta, etc. It hasn't worked for her mostly because she's... kinda bad at good ideas, but damn she's good at getting free tech interns and knowing a guy who knows a guy with endless wealth who will at least hear your pitch deck.

I'd say that would tip the scales for a tech startup over a remote one, although location alone isn't going to earn you those tech innovation bucks.

Silicon Valley is where all the VCs are. They make a lot of their funding decisions based on whether they like hanging around with a founder or not. You're more likely to get money out of them if you're fun to drink beers with than if you have a great business plan.