How do location and venture capital shape startup opportunities?

"With enough intelligence and determination, people can get rich almost anywhere in the United States. Whether you own chains of dry cleaners in Queens, car dealerships in Chicago, or oil wells in West Texas, fortunes have been made in every state in the Union. There are some places, however, where the chances of creating wealth are much greater than others. That is the reason why people who hope to strike it rich move to places such as Manhattan or Palo Alto. It’s not because the cost of living is low or the quality of life as a struggling entrepreneur is fun. Whether starting a software or soft-drink company, entrepreneurs tend to follow the money But not all companies follow the herd. Guild Education, founded in 2015 by Rachel Carlson and Brittany Stich at Stanford University, left San Francisco due to the high cost of living that could slow down the company’s growth. “We have a lot of women who are executives and department heads here, starting with myself and my cofounder,” CEO Rachel Carlson said. “So when we left, we deliberately chose a place where you can have a family.” Guild Education’s mission is to help large employers offer college education and tuition reimbursement as a benefit to the 64 million working-age adults who lack a college degree. Since moving to Denver, Guild Education has raised another $21 million in venture capital, bringing the total funding to $31.5 million with a company valuation of $125 million. The company headquarters in Denver is next door to a Montessori school and employs 58 employees. “We were joking that we’re the polar opposite of Apple,” said Carlson. “Remember when the new ‘mothership’ came out? Every single parent noticed that it had a huge gym but not a day care.” According to PwC’s quarterly venture capital study, “MoneyTree Report,” the top regions in the United States for venture-backed deals in the third quarter of 2017 were San Francisco ($4.1 billion), New York Metro ($4.2 billion), Silicon Valley (Bay Area $2.2 billion), and New England ($1.8 billion). In 2017, equity financing in U.S. start-ups rose for the third straight quarter, reaching $19 billion, according to the PwC/CB Insights “MoneyTree Report Q3 2017.” “Financing was boosted by a large number of mega-rounds,” says Tom Ciccolella, Partner, U.S. Ventures Leader at PwC. Twenty-six mega-rounds of $100 million in companies such as WeWork, 23andMe, Fanatics, and NAUTO contributed to the strong activity levels in the first three quarters of 2017. The top five U.S. industry sectors with the most deals and funding were Internet, Healthcare, Mobile and Telecommunications, Software (Non-Internet/Mobile), and Consumer Products."