This. The guy was sold a dream that only SV could make it. Totally not true. I’m sure the value of SV networking is great but what would that provide him? There’s plenty of opportunities he could have pursued in his home state. Raleigh-Durham has a very healthy investment culture.

I’m always skeptical of people who built something elsewhere then decided Silicon Valley is the only place they can grow. Sounds like someone said that to him and he just ran with it. With all the VC’s turning him down, he could have done that on the east coast just as effectively.

List of partners in his home state that could have been interested:

   Frontier Growth
   SJF Ventures
   Bessemer
   River Cities Capital Fund
   Wildwood

Having participated in countless Startup Weeks (Boulder being my favorite), there’s opportunity everywhere if you’re willing to put yourself out there.