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Steve Case On How To Get Funded Outside Tech Corridors (hpe.com)
Long-time reader Esther Schindler writes:
Innovation occurs outside the Bay Area, New York, Boston, and Austin. So why is it so hard for a startup to get attention and acquire venture capital? Steve Case and Kara Swisher discussed this never-ending-topic recently, such as the fact 78% of U.S. venture capital last year went to just three states: California, New York, and Massachusetts. Case sees a "third wave" of venture capital funding and through his VC firm is investing in startups based outside major tech centers.
But, points out Stealthmode's Francine Hardaway, if you're in Boise or Baltimore you don't have to wait for Case to come to town. She shares advice about what's worked in other startup communities, focusing on the #YesPhx efforts.
Conventional wisdom says you should be in a major tech center to get funding, but the article offers an encouraging counterargument. "Never rely on conventional wisdom if you're an innovator. Money follows real innovation."
But, points out Stealthmode's Francine Hardaway, if you're in Boise or Baltimore you don't have to wait for Case to come to town. She shares advice about what's worked in other startup communities, focusing on the #YesPhx efforts.
Conventional wisdom says you should be in a major tech center to get funding, but the article offers an encouraging counterargument. "Never rely on conventional wisdom if you're an innovator. Money follows real innovation."
Money follows Theranos and Juicero.
Wow, glad to see John Romero's ex is still in the industry. But the idea is ludicrous. A computer company requires computer professionals, and most computer professionals live in areas with a computer industry.
Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
They are known for their startups, kinda.
Except for certain high-profile projects, VC money is used when it's time to scale not when still developing in the garage.
Silicon Valley is for scaling up and for known entities, but not for an unknown startup to do R&D. So develop wherever you're from and when ready go to SV for customers and money.
Long time not seen. Was she a he once before, in the long ago time?
Conventional wisdom says you should be in a major tech center to get funding, but the article offers an encouraging counterargument. "Never rely on conventional wisdom if you're an innovator. Money follows real innovation."
A guy in a town we lived in, once upon a time, shot a buck white tail in the middle of town square, and got 30 days for discharging a firearm within meters of a Girl Scout cookie stand.
I tell you that to tell you this: Most deer hunters shoot their quarry in the hill and dale, but you certainly can bag a deer near the center of civilization.
It's just not the percentage bet.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Steve Case is high.
The article starts out claiming AOL was there at the start of the Internet, and helped pave the way -- but really, "MeTooLand" (AOL) only connected itself to the Internet through a number of large VAX machines, in a last ditch attempt at to maintain relevance, in the face of educated kids asking their parents why they are paying so much money to AOL for what amounts to Internet access. AOL was the sugary cereal "adjacent to this complete breakfast".
He states that "innovation can happen anywhere" (it can) and that "we should be funding outside traditional central areas" (debatable).
And then his three examples are Sweetgreen, Framebridge, and OrderUp, which are all within one hour driving distance of each other in the DC/Baltimore metroplex.
In other words: he's funding outside of "traditional central areas" by declaring a new central area, and then claiming it's not central.
My interpretation of this, and the specific mention of these there portfolio companies for Revolution Growth, where Steve Case works, is that the VC is starting to see that a VC needs multiple VC's when it invests in a risk company, in order to spread the risk, and that no one is coming to their party.
Last person I'd want to listen to about tech is Steve Case.
Dallas, for example, has about 100,000 IT professionals. How many does your company need? In my specific niche, IT security, over 100 people regularly attend IT security events. Our *monthly* OWASP meeting is probably 60 people, and that's maybe 1% of the IT security people in town, so there are roughly 6,000 IT security professionals for a company in Dallas to choose from. How many does your company need?
Actually more than that - my company chose me from a city three hours away. To make it worth moving, the paid me enough that I bought a 3,500 square foot house here in Dallas, yet that cost them roughly the same as an *intern* costs in San Jose.
I voted against Trump, twice, partly because he doesn't know anything about government policy and governing. Yeah, he's an "outsider", also known as a newbie.
On the other hand, there are four billion reasons to think he knows something about business, specifically high-end real estate.
What is so special about the east and west coast?
Network distance and ping to Asia and the EU? Some collection of international networks in and out of the USA?
A local US finance sector that needs really fast network speed?
Lots of free state and federal funding for a few of the best academic locations in the USA that still grade on merit?
A lot of optical networks thanks to the needs US gov and mil?
The lifestyle and wealth of the local people with cash to invest in the ideas? The parts of the US they want to live in and support ideas in?
The politics, weather and wealth on the US west coast?
Other states just cant in pull decades of mil, gov, telco, state and federal academic funding that people with cash like to build their new ides on?
The location of ex and former NSA, CIA, mil staff and expert legal teams that can work with the US gov and have the contacts and can help with any gov/mil bids?
Other states might have lots of cheap fast optical and low power cost at some new locations but cant bring in legal, funding, gov, ex mil, education, city and state gov support.
Their city or state gov is too poor, too focused on decades of pension issues, has no working budget for tech issues, the city issues with cheap power, lack of real network options, strange local tax rates that might get lowered for some type of investment.
Local education is passing failed students with no skills.
City and state governments then demand all the "passed" failed students get high tech jobs as part of tax cuts and other support to attract new jobs.
A company then has to look after failed students and support them into the role of below average staff and keep hiring.
Other city and states are not worth the local staffing risk even with new fast networks, cheaper power and less tax.
A small tax cut does not cover the huge costs of having to hire lots of new local staff with no skills.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Be born rich, with rich friends, and rich connections. Grats on your funding.