A couple of days ago, I was in a meeting with a Techstars company, 4 people from Boulder and a couple prospective investors and partners. As these meetings seem to always go, at some point one of the visitors utters the evil D-word.

“Denver”

Immediately, probably given my absolute hatred of that city, I correct. “Actually, its Boulder.”

And then a discussion begins about why Boulder has such a strong entrepreneurial environment. We talk about the number of startups in a small town; we discuss the entrepreneurial history of the region; we explain that Boulder is a weird town that is accepting of weird people, and that the weirdest people of all are entrepreneurs.

Then yesterday I watched the latest Founders video:

and read Brad’s post.

And it hit me.

What is helping Boulder grow, whats helping us become a entrepreneurial center is friendship.

Before you begin to think I have gotten soft, let me explain.

Think about your good friends. What are the core components of that relationship?

Truth.

Trust.

Reliability.

Consistency.

Loyalty.

Now if you apply the same concept to startups, it works just as well.

In Boulder, we all are friends (well, at least supportive). We treat our startups like friends. We treat each other’s startups like friends.

And, like friends, we expect the best. There is no suffering of fools in Boulder.

Extra added bonus:

I was meeting with a couple of friends who are looking for a startup concept to build against. When asked what I thought made a successful startup, here is the advice I gave them.

1) since the internet is about accelerating and facilitating communication and information, so should your startup;

2) it should solve a personal problem. It should scratch a personal itch you have;

3) you should be passionate about the idea. Passion breeds love. Love breeds focus.

Popularity: 2% [?]