I’ve had a few people send me this article in the NY Times recently so I thought it was worth linking to. With my recent theme of how limited the funding options are in Australia, a lot of people were asking me “why can’t you get US venture capital from Australia?”

Meet the “20-minute rule” that guides fateful decisions in Silicon Valley. Craig Johnson, managing director of Concept2Company Ventures, a venture capital firm in Palo Alto, Calif., who has 30 years of experience in early-stage financings, said he knew many venture capitalists who adhered to this doctrine: if a start-up company seeking venture capital is not within a 20-minute drive of the venture firm’s offices, it will not be funded.