How does the Silicon Prairie become more attractive for venture capital?
After reading a post by our friends at Silicon Florist looking at the same issue in Portland – "How does Portland become more attractive for venture capital investment?" – it inspired me to ask the same question of the Silicon Prairie community.
Silicon Florist founder Rick Turoczy (left, photo from twitter.com/turoczy), along with the community in Portland, are wrestling with the issue of garnering funding, when, and where it's needed. On this topic, Turoczy shared a great video from David Hornik of August Capital. Hornik was recently interviewed by TechCrunch's Sarah Lacy for her "Ask a VC" series: "Ask a VC: Why David Hornik Invests Close to Home and the Dumbest Deal in the Valley."
Note: The video begins playing at the 9:46 mark, the point at which Hornik addresses the Portland landscape.
I think that we're heading in the right direction with activities such as the launch of the Dundee Venture Capital along with events like Invest Nebraska's New Venture Competition. These show that the momentum is rising, yet there's still more work to do.
Take the time to listen to Hornik's thoughts in the video above. Afterwards, I encourage you to share your thoughts on how the Silicon Prairie region can become more attractive for venture capital investment.
Also, if you're interested in the entrepreneurial and startup scene in the Greater Portland area, I'd encourage you to check out SiliconFlorist.com and follow Turoczy on Twitter, @turoczy.
Read Rick Turoczy's post that inspired this post: How does Portland become more attractive for venture capital investment?
ARCHIVED COMMENTS
Thanks for sharing this.
As we've talked about before, I think Portland and Omaha have a lot in common--both in terms of benefits and problems. And it's really interesting to see how you guys are tackling things. Hopefully folks around here find Portland's attempts equally interesting.
As alway, please keep up the great work. You guys are awesome.