John Cook, the Seattle P-I venture reporter, posted a good summary from the keynote of the WSA Investment Forum by Larry Orr of Trinity Ventures entitled Top ten reasons to invest in Seattle.  Follow the link to get the list.

As a relative newcomer to Seattle, I am still learning about the venture infrastructure here but certainly have been impressed with both the community that exists as well as the opportunities for would-be entrepreneurs.  There are lots of great organizations like the Northwest Enterpreneur Network, MIT Enterprise Forum of the Northwest, and WSA.  Also, quite a few Seattle-area venture firms like Polaris Ventures & Northwest Venture Associates (investors in MessageGate) as well as Ignition Partners, Madrona, and OVP to name a few.  Even the Open Coffee Club I posted about is a forum for creating relationships and nurturing ideas among smart people.

Lots of regions want to be "like Silicon Valley" which is a bit of a fruitless pursuit.  The Bay Area is truly unique in its history and character but there are other cities/regions including Seattle that have created their own identity as it relates to nurturing start-ups and innovation.  VCs play a leading role in attracting talent and developing the support infrastructure for start-ups in their region.  Brad Feld of Foundry/Mobius is an example of a guy leading the charge to promote his region with initiatives like Colorado Startups, TechStars, & the Entrepreneur’s Foundation of Colorado.  Jason Caplain in the Raleigh/Durham area is another.

You don’t have to be in the Bay Area, Seattle, RTP, or Boulder to launch a company – although it certainly helps and here’s why:

1.  The family tree

This is the generational development of entrepreneurs, their "offspring", and having all the supporting services (lawyers, auditors, etc.) up the learning curve on how to fund, grow, and exit.  Seattle has/had Microsoft, Amazon, Real Networks, and McCaw to name a few.  These companies paved the way and have created enterpreneurial "offspring" that both fund and found companies.

2.  Smart people

Having a local research, defense, or university presence brings bright people to the area and through programmatic research spawns innovation and breakthrough.  Also having companies locally that recruit globally to find great people feeds the population and creates a dynamic population with more folks arriving every day.

3.  Access to capital

We’re not talking about bank loans here, but risk capital.  Having the available capital to fund ideas and businesses is essential from local angel investors willing to take a very early stage bet to venture capital firms inclined to provide capital over multiple rounds.

4.  Optimism

This is a bit more subjective but it is about the culture and mindset of the population.  One thing you must have to start a company is optimism and a belief that you can be successful.  Having had people around you be successful fuels this (see point #1)

There are probably many more things to add to this list, but I believe these are key.  I moved here from Atlanta and although all of these things exist there, the "family tree" doesn’t have as many branches as Seattle and certainly no where near the development as the Bay Area.