Over the past several decades, Silicon Valley has become synonymous with entrepreneurship. But not all entrepreneurs are created equal: As suggested by a new study in Science magazine, those startups that survive and become viable companies generally share a handful of attributes, from shorter names to incorporation and trademarking. (Hat tip to The Verge for the link to the study.) The researchers who authored that study, including an MIT economist, used their model to map the true heart of entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley. As described by The Verge, this “high quality” epicenter extends from “Google to Millbrae and Burlingame, as well as in the area around Market Street in San Francisco, and close to Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore Labs.” Check out the latest startup jobs. The researchers also acknowledge that much work remains to be done, including the addition of more variables that could further refine the map. In mid-2014, the Brookings Institution issued a report claiming that the rise of the next Silicon Valley—whether on the West Coast, East Coast, or somewhere in-between—will hinge on a number of factors, including amenities, innovation cultivators such as accelerators and incubators, innovation drivers along the lines of universities and established tech companies, and physical assets including office space, transportation options, and living options. But if all those assets and amenities represent the fuel, there’s still the need for a spark: entrepreneurs willing to persevere through thick and thin in order to make a vision a reality. Even in Silicon Valley, some areas evidently possess more of that fire than others.

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Image: RJ Andrews/Science/The Verge