I hear some Montanans say, “It might work for Bozeman, but that high-tech thing can’t happen in this part of Montana.” Why not?
When I first moved to Bozeman nearly 20 years ago with my young family, people thought I was nuts. They told us all the reasons why we would not be able to build a global business in Montana. “There is no money.” With no written business plan and no outside capital, we raised $32M, all after we had grown to 160 employees. “You can’t get the people you need.” Our team competed with the best companies in the world, and won! “There is not enough bandwidth for an Internet company.” We built an Internet company in Bozeman that was one of the top 100 web sites in the world. “You’re too far from your customers.” We leveraged the Internet, which put us on everyone’s front step. And it went on ad nauseum.
Good thing we didn’t listen! That in part is why I love working with young people. They don’t know things are impossible yet, so they just do them anyway.
There is no reason ANY Montana community with a fired-up entrepreneur and a good idea cannot start a high-tech or high-tech manufacturing business that creates high-paying jobs. Sure there will be bumps, and it is hard work, but nothing worthwhile is ever easy. If you are one of those people, contact me. I would love to help you succeed in your community.
