Jeff, Boston really is a great town for innovation. We've got a super smart young population who demand the latest and greatest technologies which then spurs on even cooler "What if" ideas for innovation. And they are all highly concentrated in a small geographic area with all the top universities in Cambridge and Boston. And today it's easier than ever for students to take those "What if" ideas and launch them as Alpha applications on the web. Cloud hosting, social media marketing, and student startup incubation programs like Microsoft's DreamSpark (www.dreamspark.com) allow them to do this for nearly free, which is perfect for a student's budget. I also encourage students to attent the Boston BizSpark Meetup events where they can not only network with other startupers, but watch as founders do live pitches for real PE investment money every month. The URL is http://bit.ly/BOSSpark. And I'm happy to help and answer student questions and give referrals to others as well. Marsh Sutherland President | Co-Founder SocialGrow Inc. @MarshSutherland | @SocialGrow

Great post Jeff. What stage of accomplishment should a startup achieve before attempting to look for Angel funding or competing in these events? Right now my startup www.socialgrow.com is focused product development and on our entry to MassChallenge. The opportunity for a cash award and free office space as well as plugging into the MassChallenge PR machine is very attractive. Marsh Sutherland President | Co-Founder SocialGrow @MarshSutherland | @SocialGrow