frankly speaking

If You Want It, Go Get It

My friends Dave and Bryce wrote two excellent posts (read them here and here) about the problem with Venture Capital disappearing from the midwest region of the country. Specifically both of them wrote about the problem that Utah was having (and for what it’s worth, I think Utah is a good microcosm of what it’s like as a non-tech hub).

Bryce’s article was more from a VC perspective. The issue he points out is not that there’s a lack of talent in Utah, rather, VC money is being sucked up by institutional funds and institutional funds tend not to invest outside of tech-hubs.

Dave’s post was more from the entrepreneurial perspective, that is Utah has a bunch of talented folks, has a low cost of living, but what it’s missing is the ability of entrepreneurs to connect with venture capitalists.

As some of you know, I was born and raised in Utah, so for good or for bad, Utah will always have a piece of me. As I’ve written before, part of the problem that a lot of start-ups that are located outside of tech-hubs have is lack of adequate access to ideas, money and people.

A lot of what Utah has going for it is (as Dave mentions) is a very qualified workforce who is really good when it comes down to executing tasks. This work ethic has been instilled by them by generations before them and won’t be going anywhere any time soon.

Where Utah has struggled is its access to capital and it’s ability to connect with people who have access to capital. While there has been some access to capital in the past, as Bryce alludes to, that access is soon drying up. The question to this, is why?

I think there are a couple reasons - 1) the fact is, Utah, like a lot of other non tech-hubs is located in an area that doesn’t have the population size of a Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, New York or Boston. Because of this, there is a pure and simple lack of ideas floating around to be funded. 2) Because there’s a lack of ideas, there’s a lack of talent (from an investors perspective) in which to invest money and execute on those ideas. 3) As investors shy away from non tech-hubs like Utah, it becomes more difficult for them to attract new money, and thus it decreases the ability of entrepreneurs to interact with investors - while yes, you can always have a skype chat with an investor 5000 miles away, it’s much better for everyone involved if that meeting takes place face to face.

So the question becomes what can people in places like Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and other places like Africa, Eastern Europe and Australia do to get capital to fund their ideas? It’s not easy, but if you really believe in your idea and you want to meet the right people, take a year or even six months and go to a tech-hub. Get a feel for the culture and interact with the people who make the place a tech-hub.

After 4 years in the Bay Area I’ve been introduced to more people than I can count who could one day be helpful (through introductions, feedback or even investing) in a company that I start.  I know it’s not possible for everyone to just pick-up and move to a tech-hub, but invest in yourself, and your potential business and go find the money if it’s not able to find you.