01.27.19
Study: City good place to start up
Sherry Slater, The Journal Gazette
Excerpt
“Ranked 6th in US for purchase power by new businesses.
Aspiring entrepreneurs can do substantially more with less when they start a company in Fort Wayne, according to a study released last week.
Robert Moore, creator of Crossbeam.com, compared costs in the 100 largest cities in the U.S. in four categories: engineering salaries; rent for a dedicated co-working desk; sales and general administrative costs; and software and supplies.
Fort Wayne ranked sixth nationwide in his analysis of startup purchasing power.
Compared with San Francisco, where many venture capitalist firms are based, the same $1 in funding would go 1.72 times further in the Summit City. Moore’s online calculator allows people to plug in any two cities included in the study and generate a comparison.
Karl LaPan, president and CEO of the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center, said it typically takes longer and costs more to launch a company than most founders expect. So having dollars stretch further in Fort Wayne is a significant benefit, especially for self-funded entrepreneurs and those working with a shoe-string budget.
“It allows you to have a very long runway to get your company off the ground,” he said. “I think that is a very real advantage” for local startups.
Even so, LaPan doesn’t see the difference in purchasing power as having the potential to be the centerpiece of a marketing campaign.
Founders decided where to live and start a business based on two other criteria, he said.
“The vast amount of entrepreneurs are going to be attracted to a community because of the capital and the talent found there,” LaPan said. “If there isn’t talent there, it doesn’t matter how cheap it is.”
Moore agreed with LaPan’s top two factors, but he would reverse the order – talent first and then capital.”
Click here to see Top 10 ranked cities in US according to Crossbeam.com and to read full article on Journalgazette.net.
