Being headquartered in San Francisco, CA is "negatively correlated" (standard deviation when pooled with all cities: -0.5261) with having a successful exit.

Best cities/towns/etc (most correlated with experiencing an exit, rather than failing/floundering (shut down, or founded before 2004 + no exit/acquisition/IPO)) to create a startup:

stddev Exits Total City

8.4678 143 207 Mountain View, CA USA

6.4855 130 356 London, H9 GBR

5.7360 15 25 Berlin, 16 DEU

4.5423 23 56 Tokyo, 40 JPN
4.5105 17 32 Richardson, TX USA
4.3559 56 159 Paris, A8 FRA
4.2118 44 99 Vancouver, BC CAN
4.1381 28 62 Montreal, QC CAN
4.0152 60 99 Waltham, MA USA

3.9462 57 138 Atlanta, GA USA
3.9414 14 21 Arlington, VA USA
3.8747 15 20 Foster City, CA USA
3.8528 14 41 Copenhagen, 17 DNK
3.7484 32 42 South San Francisco, CA USA
3.7131 14 31 Baltimore, MD USA
3.6728 39 79 Fremont, CA USA
3.4364 9 17 Irving, TX USA
3.3919 8 11 Chelmsford, MA USA
3.3833 5 7 Surry Hills, 2 AUS
3.3637 19 59 Bangalore, 19 IND
3.3335 11 24 Hamburg, 4 DEU
3.2568 19 36 Morrisville, NC USA
3.2101 10 29 Seoul, 11 KOR
3.1476 17 32 Bethesda, MD USA
3.1191 17 42 Cambridge, C3 GBR

2.9591 7 18 Zurich, 25 CHE
2.9566 7 7 Chapel Hill, NC USA
2.8746 11 32 St Louis, MO USA
2.8625 39 83 Boulder, CO USA
2.8225 35 69 Portland, OR USA
2.8000 45 128 Beijing, 22 CHN
2.7117 15 23 Aliso Viejo, CA USA
2.6170 13 19 Los Gatos, CA USA
2.4679 12 30 Helsinki, 13 FIN
2.4569 4 12 Istanbul, 34 TUR
2.4385 22 49 Minneapolis, MN USA
2.3187 21 72 Dublin, 7 IRL
2.3046 5 6 Burlington, ON CAN
2.2251 4 6 Kennesaw, GA USA
2.1569 8 12 Sterling, VA USA
2.1564 111 206 San Jose, CA USA
2.0461 37 58 Cupertino, CA USA
2.0432 20 36 Pasadena, CA USA
2.0180 7 8 Itasca, IL USA

1.9883 23 51 Ottawa, ON CAN
1.9772 5 6 Oak Brook, IL USA
1.9468 7 8 Westford, MA USA
1.9386 3 3 Gent, 8 BEL
1.9285 4 7 Delft, 11 NLD
1.9251 9 16 Beverly Hills, CA USA
1.8902 8 18 Oslo, 12 NOR
1.8785 4 7 Costa Mesa, CA USA
1.8746 13 37 Tampa, FL USA
1.8346 9 21 Jacksonville, FL USA
1.8340 13 18 San Bruno, CA USA
1.8246 7 10 Venice, CA USA
1.8117 16 50 Stockholm, 26 SWE
1.8010 8 15 Wilmington, DE USA
1.7720 7 19 Burnaby, BC CAN
1.7050 5 7 Kitchener, ON CAN
1.6856 6 16 Gurgaon, 10 IND
1.6729 398 807 New York, NY USA
1.6474 3 3 Fuzhou Shi, 3 CHN
1.6362 15 41 Madrid, 29 ESP
1.6145 2 5 Utrecht, 9 NLD
1.6135 5 11 Minnetonka, MN USA
1.5937 21 35 Milpitas, CA USA
1.5785 14 28 Mclean, VA USA
1.5671 6 11 Orem, UT USA
1.5587 3 8 Prague, 52 CZE
1.5505 3 3 Lake Forest, IL USA
1.5461 9 12 Alameda, CA USA
1.5459 4 14 Rio De Janeiro, 21 BRA
1.5402 9 14 El Segundo, CA USA
1.5240 8 17 West Hollywood, CA USA
1.5223 4 5 Doylestown, PA USA
1.5127 9 38 Sao Paulo, 2 BRA
1.4928 4 6 Arlington Heights, IL USA
1.4881 15 27 Marlborough, MA USA
1.4800 4 10 Stuttgart, 1 DEU
1.4516 7 11 Kfar Saba, 2 ISR
1.4352 5 13 Dubai, 3 ARE
1.4241 2 3 Blackrock, 7 IRL
1.4220 3 5 Roncade, 20 ITA
1.4157 3 8 Espoo, 13 FIN
1.3833 7 24 Vienna, 9 AUT
1.3667 5 6 Solana Beach, CA USA
1.3442 7 14 Mississauga, ON CAN
1.3139 7 10 Belmont, CA USA
1.3073 13 29 San Antonio, TX USA
1.2982 6 14 Buffalo, NY USA
1.2742 4 5 Ames, IA USA
1.2476 5 11 Abingdon, K2 GBR
1.2381 19 50 Washington, DC USA
1.2296 102 171 Cambridge, MA USA
1.2282 7 13 Westminster, CO USA
1.2127 5 12 Annapolis, MD USA
1.2056 2 2 Odense, 21 DNK
1.1670 2 2 West Des Moines, IA USA
1.1492 2 2 Notting Hill, 7 AUS
1.1480 3 7 Schaumburg, IL USA
1.1403 13 35 Plano, TX USA
1.1257 3 3 Sunrise, FL USA
1.1201 13 31 Ann Arbor, MI USA
1.0986 4 9 Halifax, NS CAN
1.0967 2 3 San Marcos, TX USA
1.0963 2 2 Mi Wuk Village, CA USA
1.0841 4 7 Newtown, PA USA
1.0752 3 4 Zug, 24 CHE
1.0658 37 74 Tel Aviv, 5 ISR
1.0643 10 34 Shenzhen, 30 CHN
1.0558 5 10 Munchen, 2 DEU
1.0379 5 5 Branford, CT USA
1.0283 3 3 Fredericton, NS CAN
1.0099 2 3 Pune, 16 IND
1.0033 4 8 Charleston, SC USA

Worst:

-9.2963 55 178 Los Angeles, CA USA

-5.8472 13 135 Moscow, 48 RUS

-4.2334 2 16 Quebec, QC CAN
-4.1071 9 24 Berkeley, CA USA

-3.9312 4 15 Lucerne Valley, CA USA
-3.7260 63 124 Redwood City, CA USA
-3.5625 2 10 Netanya, 2 ISR
-3.3962 8 20 Newton, MA USA
-3.3100 10 20 Princeton, NJ USA
-3.2994 9 21 La Jolla, CA USA

-2.8129 6 13 Petaluma, CA USA
-2.5981 12 42 Raleigh, NC USA
-2.3986 14 41 Brooklyn, NY USA
-2.3916 4 10 Addison, TX USA
-2.3777 59 155 Toronto, ON CAN
-2.3297 2 6 Allentown, PA USA
-2.2695 2 9 Edison, NJ USA
-2.1975 1 5 Champaign, IL USA
-2.1557 114 240 Austin, TX USA
-2.0160 0 7 Livermore, CA USA
-2.0154 127 244 Palo Alto, CA USA

-1.9803 1 5 Blacksburg, VA USA
-1.9321 4 20 Melbourne, 7 AUS
-1.9214 13 34 Charlotte, NC USA
-1.8469 0 4 City Of Industry, CA USA
-1.8068 5 19 Rochester, NY USA
-1.7758 1 4 Lod, 2 ISR
-1.7431 0 3 Eatontown, NJ USA
-1.7269 4 12 Wilmington, MA USA
-1.7250 0 5 Owings Mills, MD USA
-1.6628 5 13 New Haven, CT USA
-1.6467 1 5 Golden, CO USA
-1.6458 2 16 Memphis, TN USA
-1.6433 0 5 Cedar Park, TX USA
-1.6354 3 15 Santa Ana, CA USA
-1.6351 9 17 Gaithersburg, MD USA
-1.6102 35 99 Houston, TX USA
-1.6033 0 3 Superior, WI USA
-1.5757 0 10 Saint Petersburg, 66 RUS
-1.5656 0 4 Tacoma, WA USA
-1.5626 8 25 Orlando, FL USA
-1.5451 0 9 Little Rock, AR USA
-1.5421 1 7 Galway, 10 IRL
-1.5226 9 41 Cleveland, OH USA
-1.5176 1 6 Liverpool, H8 GBR
-1.5007 5 30 Columbus, OH USA
-1.4983 19 48 Philadelphia, PA USA
-1.4838 0 4 Toledo, OH USA
-1.4825 0 6 Newark, NJ USA
-1.4783 26 83 Pittsburgh, PA USA
-1.4602 15 35 Oakland, CA USA
-1.4537 0 6 Sausalito, CA USA
-1.4369 1 8 Kista, 26 SWE
-1.4364 0 5 New Orleans, LA USA
-1.3845 6 20 Newport Beach, CA USA
-1.3755 1 8 Manchester, I2 GBR
-1.3457 29 84 Dallas, TX USA
-1.3180 0 8 Centennial, CO USA
-1.2865 3 13 Charlottesville, VA USA
-1.2839 0 5 Morgan Hill, CA USA
-1.2704 1 4 Lawrenceville, GA USA
-1.2478 1 6 Burbank, CA USA
-1.2446 0 8 Tallinn, 1 EST
-1.2440 87 157 San Mateo, CA USA
-1.2188 4 13 Plymouth, MN USA
-1.1966 0 3 Laguna Beach, CA USA
-1.1938 26 64 Salt Lake City, UT USA
-1.1711 0 9 Jakarta, 4 IDN
-1.1672 43 106 Irvine, CA USA
-1.1634 1 5 Guangdong, 5 CHN
-1.1536 0 2 Orsay, A8 FRA
-1.1421 0 2 Cherry Hill, NJ USA
-1.1222 4 13 Longmont, CO USA
-1.1221 0 3 Columbia, SC USA
-1.1055 0 4 Laval, QC CAN
-1.0837 0 2 Mountain, WI USA
-1.0790 0 3 Gilbert, AZ USA
-1.0743 4 7 Boxborough, MA USA
-1.0369 0 2 Pittsburg, CA USA
-1.0302 0 4 Napa, CA USA
-1.0275 2 7 Clearwater, FL USA
-1.0176 9 30 Indianapolis, IN USA
-1.0122 0 9 Porto Alegre, 23 BRA