Andy Jenks of Drive Capital (which led the $27M Series B investment in Minneapolis startup Lead Pages) writes about moving to the Midwest and his impressions of the challenges and opportunities of building a company there.
Here addresses one thing I think is true about the most successful Midwestern companies: they are focused on building real businesses that solve real problems in exchange for actual money:
These companies are busy building first and raising capital second. The biggest successes in the Midwest aren’t financially engineered.
Half the time, it doesn’t even occur to Midwestern entrepreneurs to raise venture capital until they no longer need it. You don’t hear the constant coffee-shop talk about who is raising their next mega-round. In the Midwest, things are more straightforward. It’s all about building real businesses.
In a capital constrained environment like the Midwest, I think this is the best approach. It beats whining about how you can’t raise any money.