This may be true in small startups which cannot necessarily afford looking for candidates beyond the bay area or internationally. It's expensive flying a candidate in who has a 10% chance of becoming a potential hire. Then when you give them an offer, they've probably already decided to move to the bay area and are choosing between 10 different offers. If they're outside the country, you need legal help for immigration.
"Only look for people in the SF bay" is not true for any tech company larger than 400 people.
I love how you assume that hiring someone means them moving to your area. That's not how it should work - isn't that why we're building the internet at all?
This may be true in small startups which cannot necessarily afford looking for candidates beyond the bay area or internationally. It's expensive flying a candidate in who has a 10% chance of becoming a potential hire. Then when you give them an offer, they've probably already decided to move to the bay area and are choosing between 10 different offers. If they're outside the country, you need legal help for immigration.
"Only look for people in the SF bay" is not true for any tech company larger than 400 people.