If I recall the history correctly, Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond because that's where Bill Gates and Paul Allen came from - stategically it would have made more sense to be based in Silicon Valley. My company has the same personal vs. professional conflict. As a UK based eCommerce company, we would ideally be based on the A1/M1 corridor somewhere around the midlands for best courier rates and later cut off times. Instead we are in the most easterly town in the UK, a long way from any motorway and any significant population because that's where we started up and no one wants to move :)
If I recall the history correctly, Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond because that's where Bill Gates and Paul Allen came from - stategically it would have made more sense to be based in Silicon Valley. My company has the same personal vs. professional conflict. As a UK based eCommerce company, we would ideally be based on the A1/M1 corridor somewhere around the midlands for best courier rates and later cut off times. Instead we are in the most easterly town in the UK, a long way from any motorway and any significant population because that's where we started up and no one wants to move :)