SOME COMMENTS we get have a way of sticking in one's mind. Here are a few of our examples.

Germain Böer

Wanted: Investment Bankers? Germain Böer, Owen Entrepreneurship Center, OGSM, Vanderbilt University told us: "We need financial institutions powerful enough to offer jobs to Investment Bankers who want to leave NY and come to Nashville. I know two people who fit this category who really wanted to work here. (Both were making in excess of $500k per year) One finally went to Atlanta where there were more opportunities, and the other found an organization that allowed the person to use their international contacts from Nashville to help to raise money. But it took this person almost two years to find this position. I think we need a group of financial people who are making close to $1 million or more per year to feed the startup activity that is just now blossoming. Some of these startups will want to go public or get acquired by some big players, and we need finance people who can make that happen."

Nick Yaeger

Startups to the Rescue? Nick Yaeger, Founder, Checkd.in -- After reporting on Nick's startup, VNC listened-in on his more recent presentation at E-Spaces - "Big companies get hosed all the time," he said at one point. Too often, he said, large vendors to major companies become complacent, knowing that they're wedged-into the companies' procurement processes, and they get complacent and lose their agility. Checkd.in has proven the value of the startup's edge in serving its client SONY Music, Yaeger said. Good startups "feed off opportunity," will strive to under-promise and over-deliver, and virtually kill themselves to earn a place as a trusted partner. In addition, Nashville's big companies need to commit to investing "in a way that isn't predatory" in local startups, he said.

David Jahns

Keeping P/E investment in Healthcare simple? David Jahns, Galen Partners' Boston-based Managing Partner, has spoken succinctly to Nashville audiences on several occasions in the past few years. Not long ago, responding to a VNC query, he crisply laid-out his firm's approach to investing in Healthcare: "[We] believe that as a nation we must improve outcomes while reducing costs. As a result we are investing growth capital in companies that have demonstrated an ability bring efficiencies to providers and patients alike. Companies like Sharecare are well positioned to provide a platform for patient engagement which we believe is the precursor to sustained coordinated efforts to improve health and wellness of any population. We also invest in technology platforms like lifeIMAGE that provide universal access to medical imaging to patients and their doctors via the cloud. These kinds of solutions reduce costs by avoiding redundant imaging and informing better more timely care." VNC