Betting on Bozeman, Montana: A CEO’s Story of Big Sky Tech

The conventional wisdom says that to make it in the technology world, you’ve got to base your company in Silicon Valley. Many great businesses are already challenging that, as the booming start-up scenes in New York, Boulder, LA, and Boston demonstrate. But what would happen if you tried to build one of the world’s foremost web solutions companies in the middle of nowhere?

Greg Gianforte, a veteran of McAfee and AT&T Bell Labs, decided to show that it could be done when he based RightNow http://www.rightnow.com/ in Bozeman, Montana. Find out how a thriving tech company is able to offer its employees huge growth and a lifestyle they previously only dreamed of having. Forget coffee shops and airports: If you’ve never taken a conference call from a John Deere tractor or the banks of the Yellowstone River, you haven’t lived.

Questions
Answered

Why would you start a tech company in the middle of nowhere?

How do you convince people to work for a tech company in the middle of nowhere?

What keeps you awake at night as a tech founder and CEO who’s based in the sticks?

What’s missing in Montana that you can only get in Silicon Valley or the big city?

How often does a rural-based tech exec fly to San Francisco?

Full Story: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/12840