While dialogging with Terry Gold, an entrepreneurial blogger at the Kauffman Foundation's eVenturing blog,  the concept of "entrepreneurship in the middle" emerged. 

In the middle - in the middle of the United States, in the middle of the "rest of the world", or, to the folks in the big cities - in the middle of Nowhere!

There are pros and cons to entrepreneurship "in the middle", and this blog is about sharing the collecting lessons learned about just that. 

I had a very interesting dinner recently with a group of colleagues "welcoming" a venture firm that has come to Utah to start investing. This fund is based on both coasts (no surprise), but they invest, in their words "just about anywhere".  Their latest deal is in the midwest and they are loving it!  One of the partners (who shall remain nameless) said "Most VCs are lazy, they don't want to invest anywhere outside of their local region.  The entrepreneur is working very hard, we [as VCs] need to work hard too!"  They view this as one of their competitive advantages in finding great deals. 

I just about stood up and cheered (although fortunately I did retain my decorum).  Here's the trick for us folks "in the middle".  There ARE VCs that are willing to travel, to look outside their backyard and that really ARE looking for great teams to back.  Then, there are plenty of them that are lazy.  So, we just have to find those that are willing to look further afield.  One suggestion is to look at states that have programs to attract venture firms (Utah Fund of Funds and New Mexico are two that pop to mind), and see which funds are investing there - chances are those firms already know how to get on a plane to get to a board meeting!

So, I'm going to start trying to compile those things that are "pros" and "cons" of entrepreneurship "in the middle", feel free to chime in!
Ciao