Comment by ValG | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ValG | Hacker News Reader

He makes an assertion that isn't true. That it's just as possible to raise money somewhere else other than Silicon Valley. Is it possible? Yes. Is it as easy/fast/convenient? Not even close. I've tried doing a startup in Michigan. Conversations with investors lasted months and they still wouldn't commit. In the valley, you can get a yes after meeting 2. Can you raise money outside of SV? Yes (in some places easier than others) but if you have to spend a bunch of your time on investor meetings instead of on your customers, it just makes it that much harder to grow your business. Silicon Valley also provides other intangibles that other locations don't (eg lots of early adopters that will give you feedback on your product, easy access to talent, etc...). My opinion is that it's still the best place to do a startup. (Granted I've only tried in Michigan before)

Ohh and the exit scenario that he mentions, this is pretty accurate from my observations and SV/VCs here are really good at this. A lot of personal relationships that help facilitate this.

Your assertion that people can't raise money easily elsewhere is wrong. Just because you had one singular data point about your own experience does not create a truth, nor does my experience in raising a large-sized convertible note in just five weeks with only four investor meetings in the deep south make that a truth either.

Then again, I had already made most of those investors good money, and have friends who are professional fundraisers. Your connectedness counts everywhere. Those SV intangibles are largely meaningless to my business, as there are more of my kind of customers in my local city than in SV, a lot more.

He didn't say you "can't" raise money elsewhere, just that it is more difficult. Are you arguing that it is just as easy to raise money elsewhere as it is in SV?

"He makes an assertion that isn't true. That it's just as possible to raise money somewhere else other than Silicon Valley. Is it possible? Yes. Is it as easy/fast/convenient? Not even close."

His assertion was based on his personal experience, as further detailed. For some of us, it is far easier to raise money locally than in Silicon Valley. Therefore, any statement which states it is categorically "not even close" without taking into account the target for the statement and their given situation must therefore be false.

Furthermore, the assertion of the author he cited was that it's just as possible to raise money, which is the statement he derides as false, and then categorizes his own statement of false by saying that while the author is correct, that it's "just as possible," it's "not as easy," which was not the assertion of the posts author.

It's who you talk to, where and how. Probably no bank in Palo Alto will invest, but they may consider a loan with collateral.

If it isn't, it certainly is getting closer every year. There are thousands of examples. Groups like Austin Ventures, Foundry in Boulder, and many others are out there writing checks. Thousands of angel investors exist in literally every city.

I've raised quite a bit of money in Colorado, and it matches my experiences in the valley.

I think Cuban, however, is spot on. There remains a very persistent advantage to Valley money. It more often than not, buys you an exit. I'm currently on the board for a company that is attempting to exit, and we're having a hell of a time connecting with buyers within the SV ecosystem.

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