US founders vs rest of the founders

US founders have real structural advantages we do not talk about enough. Ivy League is not magic; it is a pre-built network, so a cold intro becomes a warm one. Flying to SF for a weekend and landing at the right dinner is a low-friction move for them and a logistics project for the rest of us. Stripe/PayPal restrictions are serious enough that Stripe Atlas exists just to route around them.

But that mostly buys fundraising and visibility. It does not buy product-market fit.