Wheat field - (Mornico Losana, 26 Jun 2006), orginally uploaded by Simone Merli

I’ve often heard seasoned venture capitalists refer to a kind of informal screening process for new deals. It goes like this:

• If I hear about a new, interesting company once, I’ll mentally “log” it
• If I hear about a company twice (from separate sources), I’ll check them out
• If I hear about a company three times (again, disparate sources), it’s time to bring them in for a pitch

This methodology serves as cure for “deal overload” and harnesses one’s network as interest barometer. I’d contend that rising transparency in the market is obviating such tactics, but I think we’re all guilty of usage as it relates to thought distillation. Anyway, I am. The following meme has come at me from several sources over the last week and I couldn’t ignore it: startups outside of the Valley.

First, I attended a panel at SXSW called “Building Web Apps Outside Internetville,” in which Brian Oberkirch claimed what the Valley (i.e. Internetville) has is talent, infrastructure, and community more than anything else, but that what drives success for a web app is user experience. Success, then, is driven by understanding the user and the digerati denizens of the Valley are often not the ones in touch with the majority of end users (he says). At a high level, the point was a web app can be built anywhere - the challenge in less tech-rich locales is in finding the siloed actors and connecting them. Yes. Thankfully, it’s becoming easier and easier.

Today, I ran across Outside the Valley, a blog with the following mission:

This blog was started because of an obvious need for entrepreneurs and startups outside of Silicon Valley to network and learn from each other.

I’m flattered to see that two of the five startups currently profiled have previously graced the pages of this blog (here and here). But I’m not sure how I feel about the emphasis on “non-Valley” as it relates to technology, founder history, and funding to generate an “Outside the Valley Score.” Let’s celebrate the building of startups, especially ones that might not benefit from the Valley PR machine, but talk more about what makes them interesting as businesses in their own right. After all…

It’s a target rich environment.

So says a Midwest-based entrepreneur to me last week, puzzled by an apparent lack of funding sources in the area. Absolutely, investors in the Midwest and South benefit from a less competitive funding environment. The combined regions receive a relatively small portion of the venture dollars in a given year and a much more sizeable percentage (nearly half in 2005, the year I studied the matter) of the Inc 500 winners, a “list of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.”

Startups outside Internetville are doing great things; it’s not news but I think our flattening world is making it easier to locate anywhere - build a virtual business, forge relationships/partnerships over the cloud, and take advantage of cost savings to “get big cheap.” If you’re in the neighborhood and feeling siloed, please reach out. There’s a growing community here.