Yeah, but...I didn't go to Startup School for the speakers. I went to Startup School to meet the people who go to Startup School.
I'm not going to say anything bad about this group, but I'm not likely to pay for a one-day conference to learn how to incorporate and keep ledgers. Those topics aren't served well by the format.
At least half of the people I met there were from outside of the bay.
Anyway, perhaps Bay-area residents never lack for motivation or meetups with liked-minded people, but for me, that aspect was far more important than the content of the talks.