Chicago Becoming a Technology Town?

So who says you have to be in Palo Alto to have great technology companies? Chicago has two in the top 10 companies to acquire according to Wired magazine. Local favorites FeedBurner and 37 Signals put out great products (which I’m sure you are using…wait, you’re not?! What are you waiting for?!) and I’m sure are two companies that one would want to work at (at least I would). So now it begs the question, why don’t more start-up technology companies find their way to Chicago?
Here are my top five reasons why Chicago is a great place to start up your new technology company.
1) Location, Location, Location – OK, we might not have Google HQ right down the street, or warm weather all year round, but Chicago is a great city from amenities, lifestyle, a great skyline, a lake front that can double as an ocean (we have beaches and you can’t see the other side of the lake so..) and a nicely priced airline ticket being near the middle of the country.
2) Resources – Chicago has a great set of resources from great universities to recruit from, to advertising agencies to help you market your product/service (if you can’t do the WOM 3) Networking – TechCocktail. Enough said.
4) Law Firms – We have a ton of them in town, so if you need a good lawyer to protect your assets and intellectual property (those great ideas, etc.) we can help you out.
5) Did I mention location?
Again, if you are not sure about Chicago, come on in for TechCocktail 3 later this month and see what Chicago has to offer as far as our technology community. Maybe I’ll actually get to it this time.
Disclaimer: I do know the VP of Publisher Services at FeedBurner.