From my perspective, we should continue building bridges that connect education (even early education) to businesses in order to communicate current and long term technology skills-requirements. More importantly, we need to foster an on-going awareness of technology opportunities in our community to our future workforce.

I hear from local employers that they need people who have built and supported “enterprise-level” systems and software. We can leverage mentorship programs or internships for people who are starting out in technology to gain experience in large environments like State Government or larger employers such as VSP and Intel to get experience while in college, thereafter, moving them into local companies.

Let’s foster ongoing communication between business and education (at all levels), build an awareness of opportunities for our future workforce and organize the efforts of workforce training and preparation so Sacramento will thrive.

That’s why I wrote about the angel community in the bay area. The angels we met with there had already had exits. I think that was key to their moving confidently and promptly. As the Sacramento angel community has more startups exit, angels here will be playing with “house money” they’ve earned from previous investments which is certain to improve things.

That said, I’ve heard the Sacramento investment scene has grown and if you don’t find a fit here, the world’s largest startup investment community is just down the road.

The Bay is the 19 year old teenager exploring the world with an allowance, while Sac is the 35 year old responsible adult. Yes, there may not be the same flow of investment, but there is a solid and mature business community. It is a very well connected community as well, thus a solid foundation for new businesses.

We need this community to help, support and promote our local entrepreneurs and I believe SARTA is a great enabler. Events like INNOVATION 2012 and the leadership series are avenues for folks to express and share ideas, concepts and connect the dots.

On my wish list is also a better collaboration between the State and the local entrepreneurs. The current regulations make it almost impossible for the two to work together and benefit from each other. With a more collaborative environment, local and State agencies could benefit from the efficiencies of small businesses, lower overhead, while fueling the local innovation engine. It could lead to a win-win.

Aaron, I can’t wait to see your technology emerge. It would be great to see an IPO emerge from this region. At the same time, we are in the progress of building a new platform that will enable small businesses to reduce their IT costs. While our goals are not to go public, we are committed to bring innovation to the region, grow a software development hub and add new and exciting jobs. Stay tuned.

I would also qualify the thesis along Aaron’s line of thinking – I believe that Sacramento is currently a great place to boostrap a technology startup. You can get to the Bay Area when you need to, but your cost of living is 1/2 of what it would be in SF or the South Bay, so you can hang around much longer (a necessity when bootstrapping) because your personal “burn rate” is much lower (also a necessity when bootstrapping).

In terms of raising money here, my limited experience has been quite similar to Aaron’s. There’s not really any serious tech money here yet. We’re all waiting for Riskalyze to IPO so that Aaron can become the Ron Conway of Sacramento

That said, you can still start your company here, you just need to be realistic if and when it’s time to fundraise that you will need to go to the Bay Area for those funds.

I also agree that the networking in Sacramento can be fantastic if you know where to look for it. As mentioned, SacStarts is a group we both support with great enthusiasm, and you’ll get better access there to real entrepreneurs than you would at many Bay Area networking events (without the ripoff ticket cost, too!)