CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann reports that the next Silicon Valley is brewing in the Midwest. “An explosion of startup software companies” can be found in the heartland, says Strassmann. For his report he interviewed entrepreneurs including Stephanie and Paul Jarrett who left San Francisco for Lincoln, Nebraska. Their company, Bulu Box, provides a month subscription service of premium health products. In addition to a much cheaper cost of living, Stephanie Jarrett believes the people in Nebraska “would bend over backwards to help you.”
The Jarretts and other like-minded entrepreneurs are calling Midwestern cities including Des Moines, Kansas City and Lincoln, “Silicon Prairie.” According to Strassmann, Lincoln alone is home to more than 100 software startups. And venture capitalist Steven Case, a co-founder of AOL, says his firm, Revolution, “plans to invest close to $1 billion in tech companies inside the coasts.” As of now, Revolution has only two offices — in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
