I agree, and I think that's true with startup / spinoff ambitions as well. The perceived peers aren't really Stanford+Valley, but rather the clusters of engineering/biotech/etc. spinoffs that top engineering schools accumulate (UT, UIUC, MIT, etc.). Those tend to have less of a "do whatever you want" view, and more of a view that spinoffs are good, but need to take place within a set of rules that ensures that public money and payroll isn't being abused.