Not sure what you mean by isolation from west coast hubs. Is it because service from RDU still has to hop over to CLT sometimes? Because that does suck. Even flying home though, I have to connect via Atlanta to then hop to CLT sometimes. Travel was way easier when it was LAX/BUR -> DFW -> CLT.
NY has an advantage that there are flights to SF, SEA all day every day.
Depends on what sort of work people are looking for. If you're trying to do a hyper-growth startup, then yes, unfortunately you still have to be near the VCs in SF.
Though maybe that's also changing: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15849795
RTP has plenty of well-known companies that provide a solid base for employment in the area. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to have created the same sort of money flowing into startups as happened in SV back in the day.
As I argued in the thread I linked to, it might be a bit misguided for these folks to run around trying to fund a hyper-growth style startup in 'flyover country' (which I don't consider NC) when what's probably more beneficial for local communities are stable, sustainable businesses.
RDU is a decent airport too. Maybe not all the amenities of some but much easier than CLT or LAX.