Three Best Places for an Aspiring Entrepreneur
Come 2007 I can technically move anywhere, as I have no physical ties to Austin, TX.
I had no plans to move, but I wanted to see what my potential city candidates were before I completely knocked the idea.
Asking some mentors, I was advised that any city I lived in would be most beneficial to me if it has the following things:
-Strong educational resources in the university environment.
-Strong relationship between science and business.
-A strong and established business incubator.
-High tech companies all around.
There are areas in the United States that fit these criteria:
-Silicon Valley in California (San Francisco & surrounding area)
-Route 128 in Massachusetts (Boston, MA.)
-Austin, TX.
There is simply more opportunity in these three places for a startup company than anywhere else in the United States.
I had no plans to move, but I wanted to see what my potential city candidates were before I completely knocked the idea.
Asking some mentors, I was advised that any city I lived in would be most beneficial to me if it has the following things:
-Strong educational resources in the university environment.
-Strong relationship between science and business.
-A strong and established business incubator.
-High tech companies all around.
There are areas in the United States that fit these criteria:
-Silicon Valley in California (San Francisco & surrounding area)
-Route 128 in Massachusetts (Boston, MA.)
-Austin, TX.
There is simply more opportunity in these three places for a startup company than anywhere else in the United States.
posted by Neville @ 4:10 PM
24 comments
24 Comments:
Hewlett-Packard
AVI BioPharma
Oregon State University (20,000 students).
^70,000 people live there and it is very business-friendly. As a bonus, there is NO SALES TAX.
You should check it out, Nev.
Alex Wang
Realtor/Broker
RE/MAX Santa Clara Valley
www.AlexWangHomes.com
.
* University of Pennsylvania
* Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
* Philadelphia University
* Saint Joseph's University
* University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
* Temple University
* Thomas Jefferson University
* University of the Arts
* La Salle University
* Moore College of Art and Design
* Chestnut Hill College
* Holy Family University
* Community College of Philadelphia
Other colleges and univerties located in Greater Philadelphia but outside of Philadelphia proper include:
* Crozer Theological Seminary, located in Upland, closed in 1970, alma mater of Martin Luther King, Jr.
* Eastern University, located in St. Davids
* Bryn Mawr College, located in Bryn Mawr
* Haverford College, located in Haverford
* Swarthmore College, located in Swarthmore
* Villanova University, located in Villanova
* Cabrini College, located in Wayne
* Widener University, located in Chester
It's got a party school and alot of people seem to stay after graduating. The whole town is young and semi-wealthy. Real Estate prices have gone up, but not to insane levels. You can get a decent house for 180k.
Some prefer it to silicon valley and I'd say it's on par with Austin, TX.
I might be going to San Frans this Fri for my one week mid term break. Or London. Or New York. Or Sydney. Choices, choices.
I'm going around the world in Dec, hence I can only host you for 3 months from now.
But I'll be taking Financial Journalism next fall in NYU/Columbia. So hope to see you there.
Btw, I'm Indonesian living in Singapore who has unrestricted entry to the US until 2009.
:)
Surya
Funny thing is, John may appear and/or be a badass, but his class was a joke. It was called the "Dr. Butler Power Hour" by a fellow student. Putting him on par with a talk-show host might be too kind, at least in the context of that class.
But as another example, look for cities that have high population growth and you can use your China strategy from a few months ago just as well (start basic businesses that you know people will need - auto body shop, dry cleaners, whatever). Lots of new people, lots of new customers, no strong established brands, etc.
What about a real estate related business - maybe an executive suite business? High pop. growth again. Demographic specific - home health care? Look for elderly populations.
Consider what you're going to try to do and there are all kinds of opportunities. Or better yet, think of what the characteristics and opportunites that exist where you already are.
One last note: remember that it's all about margin. An auto body shop I'm involved with does a little under $2 mil. a year in revenue, and nets about $500k of that. Another company I work with, an optical lab (makes glasses) does $20 mil. a year and makes $200k in a good year. So a dry cleaning business as you suggested can be just as good, albeit not as prestigious, as a nationwide software company.
I'm suprised that Portland, OR wasn't on the list.
There are plenty of large colleges in Boston so if you stay in those areas then there will be that many more chances. For example, I am attending Boston University (Brighton) and there are tons of chances.
Drop me a line (sbisbee@bu.edu) if you want any more information about MA.
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