Blognation

update: FWIW, i'd like to see something similar for Latin America. I got my first ASDL line there long before i could get one in Scotland.

Sam Sethi et al are doing some very cool things over at Blognation - especially if you have ever wished there was something concentrating on the European startup scene. Our countries are generally smaller than some of the big players, but collectively we are quite large in comparison - however, most times i just assume a startup is from the US unless a notice it is not by chance (e.g. Plazes from Germany) or I am told directly (as happened with WeeWorld which is a stone throw away... I do actually know this after having to pay for a replacement window for them - sometimes theory is as far as it should go!).

You may ask why it matters where a startup is based. Well it does and it doesn't. In terms of technology, it probably doesn't (most of the time). However, US startups are closer to where the action has been traditionally. Even if you are not from the US, you often have US investors and in some cases end up over there. So these startups get more press and there is an uneven buzz about them .... as of course would happen when events are closer, timezones are more aligned (e.g. staying up 'til 3am to listen to always on an be part of the chat is tricky during the week!).

However, there is a lot going on in Europe and i want to hear more about it. In fact i want to hear more about startups closer to where i am (Glasgow/Scotland in my case) - for a different reason. They may not be competitors or even in the same field, but is it encouraging to know there are more of you out there and from this you can perhaps form smaller localized startup communities - share information - wisdom of crowds and all that! Earlier it was mentioned that with localized startup data and Google Maps Microformats support we may see this in Blognation sooner than later - now that is something that i think will be very cool indeed!