"Did you know it was possible to outfit an open-plan office with Ikea desks -- in the midwest? TIL."

This reads like a parody until it inexplicably turns out not to be.

Columbus and Ann Arbor both have big, important universities smack in the middle of town, and the demographics and culture that go with that. If you were choosing the least-surprising towns outside of the Bay Area and NYC to find software startups in, those would pretty much have to be on your list.