Why the Best Place to Start A Company Is Right Where You Areby Brady Bohrmann Partner at Avalon Ventures

About Brady Bohrmann

Brady has over 20 years of experience as a venture capitalist and operating executive in both information technology and biotech. His focus is on early-stage investments and backing talented entrepreneurs.

Throughout his venture capital career, he has worked with over 75 companies. He currently is a director or observer of many Avalon portfolio companies, including Backupify, Chart.io, Cloudant, Inc., Conjur, Indix, Juliet Marine Systems, Kaltura, Kinvey, Memrise, Nanigans, Pingup, Redbooth, Selectable Media, Simulmedia, The Happy Cloud, Twinstrata and Vook.

Entrepreneurship is a difficult yet rewarding journey.

Entrepreneurs and investors alike are driven to a place where we can be surrounded by those who also value what we devote our time and energy to.

However, assuming there is only one place where innovation truly happens is in fact harmful to the startup ecosystem.

Our PerspectiveAvalon Ventures is a bi-coastal firm. We love the Valley and the role it plays in the ecosystem of innovation. There’s no denying the benefits of the Valley, such as the propensity of large companies to “buy local” in terms of acquisitions.

But assuming there is only one physical place where entrepreneurship abounds is just not the case today.

4 Reasons to Build Your Company Where You Are

1. You already have access to a vibrant startup community

There are more places than ever to find support, encouragement, ideas and advice — virtually.

Although this is not a replacement by any means to real world relationships, founders and investors alike are open to virtually sharing insights on the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.

There is a vibrant community unlimited by a physical place — right at your fingertips.

Embrace that.

2. You’ll be too late if you wait until you get to Silicon Valley

Being at the “right place at the right time” is the wrong approach no matter which way you look at it. That is like saying that the only business worth starting is a unicorn business.

Don’t wait for Silicon Valley

While some VC firms firmly believe in finding these one-in-a-million opportunities, most firms know that there’s significant value in investing in an idea and team and helping them become a successful as they can be.

We have a long history at Avalon investing in early stage companies with tremendous success.

In fact, Correlation Ventures recently reported that West Coast and East Coast companies had nearly equal returns, despite varied entry and exit valuations.

East vs. West Coast Returns

East vs. West Coast ReturnsOn the East Coast, the report states: • Lower entry valuations and less capital to get to an

exit. • Yet lower exit values on average.

On the West Coast, there are: • Higher entry valuations. • Yet the exits occur on higher average valuations.

The Bottomline:Both can be pursued with great success.

East vs. West Coast ReturnsThe Lesson:

Don’t concern yourself with being in the right place at the right time or starting the next billion dollar business. Instead, focus on solving a real problem right where you are in an unorthodox way, and exiting things will follow.

If later on a move to the West Coast (or elsewhere) is the best way to grow your business, that will become obvious.

3. Building a company where you are encourages talent to come to you

Too many VCs, advisors and even founders bullrush their way into a company’s procedures, ripping a page out of another business’ playbook.

There is nothing more harmful than this.

Follow Your ProceduresWhat works for one company (i.e. a move) doesn’t work for another, and too many inexperienced voices can cause chaos and confusion.

At the end of the day, the founder needs to own the decisions and be choosy about the voices and opinions that influence them.

4. Diversity in Innovation

Confirmation bias, leading questions and cultural assumptions are all drawbacks of a community that is too homogenous.

It is of additional importance to know what’s going on outside the startup bubble.

The VP of Devil’s AdvocateA topic recently discussed by TechCrunch, this is an office that requires dissension when too many people agree.

This typically occurs when founders become too heads down in the product and remove themselves from the real world. They fall prey to group think.

Diversity in Innovation

The real question here is:

Can we truly create meaningful, game-changing products and services if we don’t understand the real issues and problems?

The Takeaway

As a bi-coastal firm, we have seen the benefit of growing a business right where it is.

If you start something right now and build it where you are, you will have taken the most important step on the road to success.

Learn more!Visit http://avalon-ventures.com/blog for more actionable advice on early stage startups, VC funding and other entrepreneurial tips.