Canada is aiming to woo bright young entrepreneurs with a startup visa program. The plan offers immediate permanent residence to foreign nationals who are able to secure business funding from Canadian investors. But, there are mixed feelings in the U.S. about the benefits of following suit.
The grades are in and the Finger Lakes region is top-of-the-class for business friendliness in New York state. That’s the conclusion of a new small businesses survey conducted by Thumbtack.com. But the survey also shows that the state still lags in a national comparison.
Startup businesses in upstate New York, a region that sometimes struggles to attract big investors, are anxiously awaiting permission to begin soliciting funding from a new type of investor.
In the lobby of the historic Syracuse Trust Building in downtown - currently under renovation - a bunch of people gathered on Thursday afternoon to hear the ideas of some startup businesses. The location was picked to show off two parts of Syracuse on the up-and-up: its downtown and its startup scene.
Microphone in hand, hopeful entrepreneurs began their pitches: a way to track when the next bus is coming, a more portable sailboat, a social network for food lovers.
It’s a Friday afternoon at the Technology Garden, a business incubator in Syracuse. The dozen or so staff members of software design company Rounded Development are sitting around on couches, chowing on Dinosaur Barbeque take-out and chatting up ideas for new products.
The Rochester Institute of Technology has launched a venture fund to help boost economic development in the region. Businesses with ties to the university will be eligible for funding through the fund.
It's not hard to think of the Silicon Valley, or maybe Boston and more recently New York City, when pondering the best place to be as a young entrepreneur. But cities all over the country are trying to become just as popular. Some are doing better than others.
Sean Branagan doesn't want to get any angry phone calls from the NCAA's lawyers for ripping off their idea, but he took inspiration from a certain national college basketball tournament, held every March, for a new student startup competition.
