[bmelton]

Baltimore's a good target. You generally would expect something like this to happen in the (nearby) DC area, but between Fort Meade and other Maryland-area institutions, there is some AMAZING talent in or around Baltimore, and it's much more pleasant getting into and out of.

Mike, if you need any help with anything technical, please feel free to let me know -- contact info is in my profile.

[Perceval]

Well, in my limited experience, Reston VA is a center for a lot of smaller tech companies. But they have a different environment. While they are entrepreneurial, they are not oriented around angel investing / venture capital to the same extent than places like San Francisco. This is because they have government funding and government contracts in lieu of private funding.

Now, obviously there is still a significant amount of VC funding in Reston, but government money plays the role that initial incubator money might in other regions. I, for instance, worked briefly at a startup that was developing technology spun off from a DARPA initiative. My uncle, a VC, was a Vice President there.

Like most things in and around Washington DC, the presence of the federal government changes the political/economic/social/cultural environment in ways that you won't see in other parts of the country.

Baltimore makes more sense, because there's a greater need for startup cash and startup cash will have a greater effect here, since it's not going to be crowded out by government money.

[adestefan]

I would agree with all of this. I'm still amazed that I can get from my house outside of Laurel to downtown Baltimore in 15-20 minutes even during the morning commute. There's also such easy and cheap access to DC, Philly, NYC and Boston via Amtrak.

We have a crop of good schools around here too. There's Hopkins and UMBC in the city plus UMD College Park has a top notch CS program.

[subelsky]

thank you, I definitely will reach out. The main thing we're gonna need is people to help advise these companies (not too time-consuming, just answer some questions here and there). I agree with your assessment. There are a lot of under-the-radar companies and people hanging out in this area.

[kovar]

Could you drop me a line, contact information in my profile? I'm in need of advice and support in some areas, may be able to offer it in others.

[subelsky]

I don't see contact info in your profile, but email me and we'll talk!

[subelsky]

will do! I'm [e-mail] in case something gets lost in translation