You must have missed the point. Google was successful because the founders developed a brilliant algorithm.
But in anycase, Carnegie Mellon is apparently a top CS and business school drawing talent from all over the world including SV. If you really think Google's success was because of additional talent, then I still say Pittsburgh would have been a solution.
But it is absurd to say that it can only be done in the valley. Did Microsoft go to the valley when HP and Apple had a huge presence? No. People came to them.
If it couldn't be done elsewhere, we wouldn't be working on ours in Vancouver. ;-)
Still, if I were 22 and single, I'd start my start-up in the valley without a moments hesitation.
Oh yes, and as for Microsoft--the rules are different for them. (When your revenues dwarf the GDP of some small countries you get a little more latitude.)
But in anycase, Carnegie Mellon is apparently a top CS and business school drawing talent from all over the world including SV. If you really think Google's success was because of additional talent, then I still say Pittsburgh would have been a solution.