With Aprisa, I can call on CEO friends of mine across the country and set up meetings with ease. This is a huge plus. Last but not least, making a deal is far easier when you have done it a few times. After you have made some money for yourself, you tend to be less hungry. The toughest part for me with Aprisa was my willingness to deal with rejections in Aprisa's fund raising efforts.
Rejection is tough to take no matter what the reasons are.
What keeps me going is my desire to bring up the next group of entrepreneurs - the employees of Aprisa who have trusted me with their future, taken a substantial pay cut to join in the venture, and are working their butts off to make Aprisa happen. The advantage we have in the 101 corridor is a relatively stable and available talented work force. We also have the beginning of a strong venture capital community. Money and good employees can be found if the idea and the founding team are both strong. The disadvantage we have is a relatively inexperienced entrepreneur community.