This article was originally featured on Silicon Prairie News and was written by Ryan Pendell.
Ryan Pendell interviewed Blair about investing in the Midwest, how startups can attract interest from VCs, navigating the Series A crunch, and trends to watch.
SPN: What are some of the most interesting trends that you see in the Midwest that people should be watching in the next 3-5 years?
BG: One of the trends I’m seeing is that startups are much more comfortable opening up secondary offices. For years people have said you should have your team located in one place. There’s a lot of us out there who just think that’s no longer relevant anymore. Maybe if you’re in Chicago, maybe if you’re in Austin, but in other places it’s difficult. I think more and more entrepreneurs are doing it to show they have a level of sophistication and risk mitigation.
I think the other trend is that we are in a bubble right now, and it will correct. And when it corrects I think it’s going to be really devastating on the coasts. But I don’t think the companies in the middle of the country are even going to feel the reverberations from that. I think they will continue to have their heads down, building capital-efficient businesses, and the ones with truly unique companies will survive. And the VCs that have more capital to put to work will put even more into the middle of the country. I think there will be a great leveling effect over the next 3-5 years.
