"I Have a Startup" - Midwest vs Bay Area

This is an great point! Saying that you're working on some excellent software and what its trying to do may be the best way to approach the conversation, especially in the midwest...

Once you describe what you're doing, then you'll be asked who you work for, and when you say yourself the idea of a startup will be better explained.

I'm always hesitant to do so because I feel that describing what project you work on doesn't describe the hours you work, the responsibilities, and all the extras that come with a startup.

I think you're taking the discussion a bit too seriously and missing the point. I'm pretty sure the blog post wasn't a verbatim conversation, but most people who have lived in the Bay Area and worked on a startup recognize the difference in reaction between people in that area versus people in other parts of the country.

I think the point is the thought - in some areas and in some circles - to when a member of intelligentsia says "I have a start-up" is bewilderment: hence the "why didn't you go to college?" follow up question.

The assumption is that if starting/running businesses isn't what people with an education do, unless they have no other choice. The "default" thing for them is to climb the corporate ladder.

pg talked about this in his "high-res society": http://www.paulgraham.com/highres.html

In a way I could see where this idea comes from: if you lack a college degree (or have one but not from a top-tier school and not with top grades) you're still locked out of some opportunities. The only way to a high ranking position in some companies is to enter as a "college hire" and advanced through the ranks (senior positions are seldom open to outside applicants and there is fear that an experienced applicant will be bored/unmotivated at a junior or entry-level position; academic record is seen as the "best" indication of potential success for a junior applicant). So for those without a college education, often the only way to a senior position is through start-ups.

What doesn't follow - any more - is that for those with an education the only way to a senior position is through a big company. It's still a way (there are lots of smart people at places such as Google, IBM, Amazon, Yahoo), but no longer the only reliable option. Even those at big companies no longer stay with the same big company: "job-hopping" is pretty common for advancement (sometimes for better, sometimes for worse - seeing less competent employees but with higher salaries due to greater negotiating leverage - can be de-motivating for employees who are uninterested in job hopping themselves).

The only way that this assumption is still slightly true is that only big companies offer the chance to work on certain classes of problems that start-ups can not tackle - but here's hope that this will change (and there are indication it is changing).

Yup, its very much the same point but narrower in focus and less eloquently stated. I should have linked to his article in mine.

And being a venture capitalist is like being a producer ?!? :-0 !

I kid because I love exclamation QuEsTiOn mArK

I've noticed this too, but all my relatives are from the Midwest!

I used to have this "blank stare" problem with some of my relatives and former colleagues when they asked what I was working on. I finally realized I was often just being too technical or was using industry-specific terms people weren't familiar with...and sometimes I was being too specific or too general in my explanations. Like I expected everyone else to have the same background and interests as I do. I finally tried putting myself in their shoes. If you're too general, you will sound evasive or apologetic. If you're too specific, it's easy to sound boring. It's a difficult balance to be specific enough that you keep their interest, but not so specific you confuse them or flip their "Techy-talk OFF switch."

I try to use very common analogies and to speak as simply and directly as possible. I usually just explain the selling proposition and/or business model of the startup without any additional information about "how we do it" or "in what industry" or "who our competitors are," etc. If they want more details, they can ask.

I've ended up with a few stock answers I use for every one of my startups. I usually just state the problem, and my solution to that problem, in layman's terms. That usually gets the best response. People usually start asking more specific questions, and we go from there. I try to explain what my startup does, and to convey my passion for the business without sounding too much like a pushy salesman or a nut ;-) If the startup is profitable, I add that tidbit.

I actually went from getting blank stares to getting new business and referrals. A simple, clear answer about the benefits your business offers can literally turn people into customers on the spot...or at least promoters of you and your ideas. Genuine enthusiasm and passion is memorable, and people are drawn to it.

I disagree. Morale is huge deal within a startup. Startups are emotional rollercoasters, and if your environment is always negatively affecting your morale, the lows will eventually drag down your productivity. That doesn't mean you aren't fit for entrepreneurship - if so, why are the majority of successful web startups clustered in the Bay Area?

I started a company in Chicago and moved to the Bay Area. the differences are almost exactly what was described in the article. I jumped from a fairly large and prestigious company to start the company and people automatically were incredulous that I would quit. There is no area like the Bay Area for starting company in terms of emotional well being and having fellow entrepreneurs in the same boat.

I'm from Chicago as well and I also find it hard for even my friends to understand why I would bother doing a startup. The people who do understand or relate are fellow tech startups of which there are quite a few actually.