I love being an angel investor in Boston! The concentration of academic talent present here is unmatched anywhere else in the globe. What is more remarkable is how practical-minded some of these great intellects can be. This confluence of intellectuality and practicality makes Boston an importer of capital and an exporter of ideas. A venture firm estimates that two thirds of capital backing Boston companies comes from out of state. It also is estimated that companies founded by MIT alumni generate enough income around the world to qualify as the tenth largest economy.
Given this reality, it is no surprise that the old Massachusetts Bay Colony continues to lead the country in innovation. See this article in the Boston Business Journal.
Boston’s and Massachusetts' unique business environment owes much to the old Puritans who founded the place. They were thinkers who took their books to a wilderness. They had to be practical and collaborative to survive. They built a civic-minded society where learning and enterprise was cherished by people in all social strata. To this day, Massachusetts leads the country in public education. A recent survey of venture-funded companies showed Massachusetts also leading the country in startups per capita. Boston, the home of the bean and the cod, is also the home of the startup.
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