I think the other benefit, later on, is that you benefit a little bit more with exposure to other companies in the investor’s portfolio. Again, in our case, we really prefer having our Series A investor here in town — in fact, we meet with them very regularly (3-4 times/month!), because they’re adding a ton of value. And, they help make introductions where they’re valuable.

As we grow, the exposure to contacts in other geographies will continue to grow in importance, so having more geographically dispersed/diverse investors active in our community will be a good thing. One example is Bill Bryant — he’s incredibly active in Seattle, but represents DFJ (I think…) — David Stern (at Clearstone) is another example of someone who’s down in the Bay Area, but who spends a lot of time up here.

The more the better — I’ve felt a growth in startup activity (not sure if it’s real, or I’m just more tied in to activity), and the increased investing activity will only help grow that activity.

Onward…

If investors have to hunt and compete for good investment ops, entrepreneurs benefit. If I had it to do over again, I’m sad to say that I’d probably avoid the Seattle investor scene unless a motivated investor fell in my lap. If you’re buying a “product” like investment, it pays to go where there’s a competitive market– you’ll get a faster deal with better terms. I can’t imagine why Lozowska would think that having Valley folks looking north wouldn’t help Seattle entrepreneurship. It’s simple supply and demand.