You prove once again that there's many sides to every situation Jay and that many folks have different perspectives when looking at the exact same thing. This is the real value of a comment section of a blog, and you've given me some great food for thought. Thanks for weighing in and doing what you do for entrepreneurs...

Thanks for the terrific comments Nathan. Agree with just about everything you say here other than believing that there's more than a dozen or so small, focused funds. They're just not on your radar yet. Keep your eyes open and you'll begin to see more and more of these.

Thanks Chris and thanks to you for all your hard work in Seattle on this front. Look forward to meeting you soon!

Thanks Toby. No doubt there's a sea change brewing. Doesn't mean the end of larger firms, just that there's a whole new breed that's emerged (along with some great angel organizations that don't charge - Kudos to the Boise Angel Alliance BTW - that's helping to fill the funding gap.

Keep up the great work Toby. You made a terrific pitch at #OAFCO

It certainly isn't easy Dave and always a balancing act, but thanks for the kudos. Your message reinforces the importance of striving to do this part of our job well.

Hi Brian. The executive committee spent a lot of time debating this very issue. At the end of the day, nobody felt that there was enough critical mass in the state to focus on Bio. Every organization needs focus and we felt that the three areas we chose was more than enough to try and do well. This was reinforced by the results of the focus groups we conducted throughout the state.

Sounds like you're an experienced negotiator Nora. You're right, there were definitely a few flags in there. This is a great example about how only with experience do these "flags" show themselves. When I was younger I'd tend to overlook them and focus on the positives. Now that I've got some gray hair, they tend to jump out more...

Nora, this is a terrific question and very insightful of you. You'd be surprised at how often an entrepreneur will act "coy". I'm not sure if it's to throw off some body language that either A) they don't need the money that badly or B) they've got lots of capital options and we're just one of them.

Earlier in my career, I would be a little put off by that but a long time ago I realized that it's just part of the "dance". While I'm not condoning it (the more transparent an entrepreneur is, the more I'm attracted to them), it's just part of the process. It usually goes away after 15 minutes of conversation. If it doesn't, then it's a yellow flag. Thanks again for the terrific question.

Thanks for sharing that Phil. I guess this can apply to many jobs...

David, thank you for getting involved! I've heard terrific things about TheCORE and agree with you that there's some real synergy here. Count on the ITC to be a resource for TheCORE and I look forward to meeting you soon!