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I live in Oshkosh, WI. We had Steve Case come to Green Bay last year, but it seemed mostly pomp, and he only invested in a single business that was a sure thin

I live in Oshkosh, WI. We had Steve Case come to Green Bay last year, but it seemed mostly pomp, and he only invested in a single business that was a sure thing anyway. I've been developing animation software for 2 years, and am set on getting profitability without help, mostly because this is probably necessary anyway, but also because it'll send the message to other folks in town that they don't need an external 'go-ahead' to start a business that works. I think part of the reason VC money isn't working as well in the valley, is that people are more obsessed with raising money than they are with making their business work. There's a certain uncomfortable fatalism that comes when you take the mindset that no one is coming to save your business. Not now, not ever. It's the same feeling you get when you have a software bug, and you can't look up the answer on google, because you're so deep into your own territory, that the question wouldn't make sense to anyone else. I welcome money, and I welcome interest, however, I think some people just need to steel themselves and launch without help. Some people need money, and other people need to just do it. That goes for every area, but in the Midwest, sometimes we get this "we need to copy the big cities" mentality, and I want to stop that, since 99% of the time, no one is coming to the rescue, even if I'd like to see more companies coming in, and lowering that %.

jldugger 9y ago
> I think part of the reason VC money isn't working as well in the valley, is that people are more obsessed with raising money than they are with making their business work. The other question one has to ask as a VC is what distinguishes a given metro from the 50 other options, and it seems unlikely that a clear winner will emerge. Instead you'd likely get a peanut butter spread of investment and investors. The difference isn't that valley companies are less focused on funding rounds than outside the valley. It's that outside SV, when it comes to raise the series B, a startup has likely already fully tapped their local VC market. Any rational actor would at least prefer to have the option of taking VC money later, even if they intend to bootstrap. > Some people need money, and other people need to just do it. That goes for every area, but in the Midwest, sometimes we get this "we need to copy the big cities" mentality Well, startups still have to compete for talent. When you look at big cities, they have a lot of things working in their favor. They favor new immigrants by providing reliable public transit and walkable downtowns so a car and driver's license isn't mandatory. They have several major employers, which makes the social and individual impact of a layoff less severe. You're right that it's not something you can depend on, but these are also conditions a lone bootstrapping entrepreneur can't just will into existence. Even if you're successful, that success means more opportunities for growth and there will come a time when your needs and the political status quo conflict. Especially in college towns typically opposed to new development, happily leeching rents off heavily indebted students. That building proposal to hold 5,000 employees? Zoning not approved as out of character. The housing annex developers need to build housing for your new hires? Didn't pass the ballot measure. The public transit your H1-Bs need? Dismissed by the City Council.
- danschumann 9y ago
  > these are also conditions a lone bootstrapping entrepreneur can't just will into existence Challenge accepted. Seriously though, being an example of a high-performing business person is pushing these conditions in the right direction.
mathattack 9y ago
It's a different mindset. In Silicon Valley money and people chase every hot startup. In most other cities, it's hard to get one or the other.
philipodonnell 9y ago
Smaller city in the Southeast, but I explain it to entrepreneurs I consult with as "Assume no one is going to give you any funding and tell me what your development plan looks like." Most people are dead in the water right there and someone needs to be honest and tell them to move, find another idea or find different people to collaborate with. Speaking truth to entrepreneurs is not a welcome activity when entrepreneurialism becomes more of a religion than an economic alternative to employment.
- danschumann 9y ago
  Yea I agree with most of that, except instead of religion, I say lottery. They don't take the path of work, they take the path of entering a lottery, whereby they think a VC will make their dreams come true. If you assume no1 is coming to help, you take the path of work. ( which is what career, entrepreneurship, and business is all about anyway ) Business -> Busy-ness -- I set up my business as a work that keeps my busy, thereby no one can stop me from being busy.

jldugger 9y ago

> I think part of the reason VC money isn't working as well in the valley, is that people are more obsessed with raising money than they are with making their business work. The other question one has to ask as a VC is what distinguishes a given metro from the 50 other options, and it seems unlikely that a clear winner will emerge. Instead you'd likely get a peanut butter spread of investment and investors. The difference isn't that valley companies are less focused on funding rounds than outside the valley. It's that outside SV, when it comes to raise the series B, a startup has likely already fully tapped their local VC market. Any rational actor would at least prefer to have the option of taking VC money later, even if they intend to bootstrap. > Some people need money, and other people need to just do it. That goes for every area, but in the Midwest, sometimes we get this "we need to copy the big cities" mentality Well, startups still have to compete for talent. When you look at big cities, they have a lot of things working in their favor. They favor new immigrants by providing reliable public transit and walkable downtowns so a car and driver's license isn't mandatory. They have several major employers, which makes the social and individual impact of a layoff less severe. You're right that it's not something you can depend on, but these are also conditions a lone bootstrapping entrepreneur can't just will into existence. Even if you're successful, that success means more opportunities for growth and there will come a time when your needs and the political status quo conflict. Especially in college towns typically opposed to new development, happily leeching rents off heavily indebted students. That building proposal to hold 5,000 employees? Zoning not approved as out of character. The housing annex developers need to build housing for your new hires? Didn't pass the ballot measure. The public transit your H1-Bs need? Dismissed by the City Council.

danschumann 9y ago
> these are also conditions a lone bootstrapping entrepreneur can't just will into existence Challenge accepted. Seriously though, being an example of a high-performing business person is pushing these conditions in the right direction.

mathattack 9y ago

It's a different mindset. In Silicon Valley money and people chase every hot startup. In most other cities, it's hard to get one or the other.

philipodonnell 9y ago

Smaller city in the Southeast, but I explain it to entrepreneurs I consult with as "Assume no one is going to give you any funding and tell me what your development plan looks like." Most people are dead in the water right there and someone needs to be honest and tell them to move, find another idea or find different people to collaborate with. Speaking truth to entrepreneurs is not a welcome activity when entrepreneurialism becomes more of a religion than an economic alternative to employment.

danschumann 9y ago
Yea I agree with most of that, except instead of religion, I say lottery. They don't take the path of work, they take the path of entering a lottery, whereby they think a VC will make their dreams come true. If you assume no1 is coming to help, you take the path of work. ( which is what career, entrepreneurship, and business is all about anyway ) Business -> Busy-ness -- I set up my business as a work that keeps my busy, thereby no one can stop me from being busy.