I had a debate with pg over 5 months ago about how many startups from Atlanta seed fund Shotput ventures would stay back after the program was over. The program

I had a debate with pg over 5 months ago about how many startups from Atlanta seed fund Shotput ventures would stay back after the program was over. The program got over 3 weeks ago and as of now, three out of the eight startups are in Atlanta. I know that at least one (and probably more than one) of the startups were originally from elsewhere but even if you ignore that, the current retention rate is 37%. pg, based on his larger data set, had predicted a 2-3% retention rate. As Lance mentions, it's early days, but I have a hunch Atlanta is going to maintain the higher retention rate. Why? Because we are working hard to make it so: http://academicvc.com/2009/05/entrepreneurial-atlanta-2/ http://academicvc.com/2009/05/entrepreneurial-atlanta-2/ Addendum: Let me restate what I said in that thread. I am not saying people should not move to the valley if that's the best thing for them. I am saying that building an ecology that supports startups in cities outside the valley is possible and it's a good thing. There are many people who don't want to or cannot move to the valley.