It's insulting to be lumped into a stereotype, so it's hard for me to not get defensive. Chicago is one of the greatest cities on the planet. The population is

It's insulting to be lumped into a stereotype, so it's hard for me to not get defensive. Chicago is one of the greatest cities on the planet. The population is very diverse. It's why I moved here in the first place and why I just bought a house here. So it's pretty strange for me to hear someone say we're all "midwestern". But we're used to name calling in the Windy City, so I'll let it go. Bottom line the startup ecosystem in Chicago doesn't have it's fair share of Webvans for one simple reason: people go where the money is and the money is in Silicon Valley. It's an accident of history that all the money is in Silicon Valley. "Midwestern culture" has nothing to do with it. Or maybe everyone is starting up in Silicon Valley because of the weather, I think PG mentioned this once. Well to that I say it's 70 degrees and sunny in Chicago as I type this...in the middle of March. Maybe global warming will mean we get a few pets.com here in the midwest.