I am very happy that this myth is being perpetuated. The following is a stereotypical view, but there is some truth to it over all. Minnesotans tend to be very

I am very happy that this myth is being perpetuated. The following is a stereotypical view, but there is some truth to it over all. Minnesotans tend to be very soft spoken. They also are very practical. They don't want to spend all their money. They want either a high paying consultancy or a stable job at a big place. So they are out there but you would not know unless you knew their close friends or family and got them to talk over a hot dish or something. I have friends from MN. I went to school with people from MN. I work about an hour outside of Chicago. I have coworkers that are from MN. I'll give one case. There was a fellow that left and I had to talk about his accomplishments at a lunch. I was floored. I had worked with him for ten years and yes I knew he was sharp and did great work, but I had no idea about everything that he had accomplished in his academic, professional, political, and personal life. I went around asked long timers and got a little clue here and there. Then I would go and ask him and his wife about the things I heard, and he was always like that was no big deal. It was funny to witness how his wife had to push him to open-up. So you are sort of in a rough spot. The sorts of people that you would want for a start-up largely see almost the same rewards in the endless consultant opportunities with a lot less risk. They figure they can afford a great life with that anyway, so there' just no real upside. They also really don't want to work around the people that they stereotypically expect at a start-up. Then it's also hard for you to know how good they are, cause they talk about the weather or their interests instead of bragging about themselves. It's really hard to get them to open-up. The other side of the coin is that it's almost impossible to get them to criticize anyone else. If they ever do, it's very subtle and non-specific. So you really have nothing to go on unless you have personally worked with them before. I think basically that personality would not mesh well in most cases with you if you formed a start-up there.