To be fair, the author's more arguing that Boston's not behind in the more traditional start scene. For YC stuff, the Valley seems much more willing to go in big on less mature and potentially less profitable companies. No IPO's have happened in the web 2.0 space, which demonstrates that his metric is blind to the sort of thing you care about most.

From what I've read and seen in the Valley and Boston, I agree 100% with you - but that's why I thought it was interesting to put it up here for discussion.

Could this be sampling bias, i.e., the kinds of startups that tend to do well in Boston are the kinds of startups that you and your team are not so interested in funding?

The startups that I've encountered in the Boston area tend to provide "enterprise" products and services, while the YC companies that I read about seem to be more consumer-oriented. ISTM that the two kinds of companies need different kinds of social networks to sell their wares and to raise capital.

What about the size of both markets. I would assume that SV is 10x at least in size. So the fact that Boston has similar IPO numbers for that quarter says alot about the vigor of the market. The point is the two are not comparable , size and market focus. You are giving the Boston VC's a shot at your type of company and hopefully they will respond. But it is not as if they are "need to". Our best shot would be for some more Consumer web type angels to start a group like Common Angels to help support your efforts.