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Want to do business? Move to Madison, Wis. Want to get rich? Move to Palo Alto.

By Betsy Schiffman, Forbes

Madison has been anointed the Best Place For Business in the U.S. in 2004 by Forbes magazine. Its favorable ratings in -- among other things -- income and job growth, low cost of doing business, available labor pool, quality of life and a university that has spawned a lot of biotech companies make it a fine city in which to live and prosper.

One of the truly great things about the United States is that, with enough intelligence and determination, people can get rich almost anywhere. Whether it's from owning chains of dry-cleaners in Queens, car dealerships in Chicago or oil wells in West Texas, for hundreds of years fortunes have been made in every state in the Union. There are some places, however, where the chances of creating wealth are much greater than others.Check out your options.
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Go where the money is
That is the reason, after all, why so many people who hope to strike it rich move to places like Manhattan or Palo Alto. It's not because the cost of living is so low or the quality of life as a struggling entrepreneur is so high. Whether they want to start a software or a soft-drink company, entrepreneurs know they have to go where the money is.

So where should they go?

In order to identify the best places to get rich, we looked at five criteria: the number of investments made by local venture capital firms, the number of active venture capital firms in the area, education level of the workforce, proximity to a major university or research center, and, in the belief that like follows like, the number of local billionaires in the area.

First, we followed the money -- which led us to narrow down our list to the 42 places with the most active venture capital firms. Many of the firms that made the most-active list invested in over 25 companies during the course of the year, and one -- New Enterprise Associates -- invested in 73 private companies. In total, about $18.2 billion in venture capital was invested last year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' quarterly-venture capital study, the MoneyTree Survey. That money doesn't travel far, either, according to the study's director of research.

Staying in the neighborhood
"In general, venture capitalists tend to invest in companies nearby. If a VC is based in Colorado, he's probably going to invest in companies based in Colorado," says Austin, Tex.-based Kirk Walden, National Director of Venture Capital Research of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Austin Ventures, for example, was one of the ten most active venture capital firms last year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. It invested in 42 companies over the course of 2003, but its portfolio is largely filled with Austin-based companies, including such software businesses as Active Power (ACPW, news, msgs), Motive Communications, Tivoli -- which is a subsidiary of IBM (IBM, news, msgs) -- Vignette (VIGN, news, msgs) and WaveSet Technologies, which was recently acquired by Sun Microsystems (SUNW, news, msgs). Although venture capital is scattered and concentrated in various regions of the country (mainly in Silicon Valley, New England, New York and Texas), each region tends to invest within the region.

Finding smart people
Getting capital is just the beginning of the story, however. Entrepreneurs also need to have smart people around them to help execute a business plan. In order to determine which of the venture capital hubs have the most educated local workforce, we averaged in the education rankings taken from the Forbes list of the Best Places For Business -- which measures the number of Ph.D.s per 100,000 residence.

We also looked at the proximity of a city to a major university or research center. It was not surprising that the majority of the places we selected were near schools like Harvard, M.I.T. or Stanford, or Massachusetts's famous technology corridor Route 128. These schools and facilities serve as incubators for many of the biggest ideas in areas like software development and biotech. It's no coincidence that Stanford has always been an important part of the Palo Alto business community.

Finally, a quick glance at the annual Forbes list of the 400 Richest Americans reveals that some billionaires live in places like Omaha, Neb. or Bentonville, Ark., the bulk live near places like Boston, Seattle or San Francisco. Some billionaires may not be interested in seeking out new opportunities, but many of them devote considerable energy to detecting new ideas and talented people that they can back financially. There are also many financial advisors and investors who live in these regions that, while not billionaires yet, are looking for the next Microsoft (MSFT, news, msgs) or Google that will one day help them be. (Editor's note: Microsoft publishes MSN Money.)

Swell opportunities -- but high costs
The drawback to places like Palo Alto, however, is that they are expensive, competitive and often send the ambitious billionaire-in-embryo back home with his or her tail between their legs. The cost of starting up in these cut-throat environments where lots of talented people are chasing the same dollars is high. The cost of labor is high. Overhead is high. Taxes are high. Moreover, living expenses, because so many people are willing to pay whatever it takes, are also steep.

The following list looks at only the top 10 places but, unsurprisingly, there are many others where a person can find their fortune. Metro areas such as Seattle, Baltimore, northern Virginia/Washington D.C. and Austin come very close but failed in the end to make the cut -- but only just.

If you're looking to become a millionaire, the many attractions of Madison seem obvious. If you're looking to become a billionaire, however, living in Manhattan or Menlo Park may seem a small price to pay.

Menlo Park/Palo Alto, Calif.
Overall Ranking: 1
Ranking for venture capital activity: 1
Ranking for the number of active venture capital firms: 1
Ranking for the number of Forbes 400 members who live around the area: 2
Education ranking: 1

Located about 30 miles south of San Francisco, and the home to Stanford University, Palo Alto became a hotbed for tech startups before the bubble burst -- but the venture capitalists who lined up on along the now-famous famous Sand Hill Road (actually located in Menlo Park, which borders Palo Alto) haven't packed up and left yet. In fact, most of the large east-coast venture capital firms have larger operations in Menlo Park than they do in their eastern headquarters.

San Francisco
Overall Ranking: 2
Ranking for venture capital activity: 6
Ranking for the number of active venture capital firms: 5
Ranking for the number of Forbes 400 members who live around the area: 2
Education ranking: 1

San Francisco may be the largest city in Northern California, but it's not the best place to become rich. In fact, local residents say there are just as many San Franciscans who commute into the Valley as there are Valley residents who commute to San Francisco. Still, for education, San Francisco ranked first on our Best Places For Business list, which showed the city as having the highest number of PhDs per 100,000 people.

Waltham, Mass.
Overall Ranking: 3
Ranking for venture capital activity: 2
Ranking for the number of active venture capital firms: 3
Ranking for the number of Forbes 400 members who live around the area: 7
Education ranking: 3

A western suburb of Boston -- close to the Route 128 technology corridor as well as downtown Boston -- Waltham, Mass. used to be known as the home to the Waltham Watch Factory. Now it is home to a variety of technology and venture capital firms. Microsoft's Boston Technology Center, for example, is located in Waltham, Mass.

Boston/Cambridge
Overall Ranking: 4
Ranking for venture capital activity: 5
Ranking for the number of active venture capital firms: 6
Ranking for the number of Forbes 400 members who live around the area: 7
Education ranking: 3

Given the fact that Boston is the ultimate college town -- home to countless schools including Boston College, Boston University, Tufts -- it's not surprising that all the research that comes out of both Boston and Cambridge (which is across the river from Boston and is home to Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology) gets put to good business use. And wherever there is good research being done, there are eager venture capitalists waiting on the sidelines.

Redwood City, Calif.
Overall Ranking: 5
Ranking for venture capital activity: 9
Ranking for the number of active venture capital firms: 11
Ranking for the number of Forbes 400 members who live around the area: 2
Education ranking: 1

Not long ago, Redwood City was little more than a small, drive-through town. Located along the Peninsula in Northern California, the small city (with a population of 75,400) began to balloon during the tech boom since it is conveniently located between San Francisco and San Jose. Today its largest employer is software developer Oracle (ORCL, news, msgs).

New York City
Overall Ranking: 6
Ranking for venture capital activity: 3
Ranking for the number of active venture capital firms: 4
Ranking for the number of Forbes 400 members who live around the area: 1
Education ranking: 15

While there doesn't seem to be a shortage of capital in the New York metro area, the venture capitalists there don't close nearly as many deals as their Silicon Valley counterparts. Still, the city has more Forbes 400 members than any other place on our list, and a thriving entrepreneurial business community.

Lexington, Mass.
Overall Ranking: 7
Ranking for venture capital activity: 21
Ranking for the number of active venture capital firms: 11
Ranking for the number of Forbes 400 members who live around the area: 7
Education ranking: 3

Lexington, located in the Greater Boston Area, is accessible by train from Boston, and by highway (along Route 128). Highland Capital Partners, one of the most active Lexington-based venture capital firms, which invests in health care, technology and communications companies, closed 29 deals last year, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers MoneyTree Survey.

Cupertino, Calif.
Overall Ranking: 8
Ranking for venture capital activity: 11
Ranking for the number of active venture capital firms: 9
Ranking for the number of Forbes 400 members who live around the area: 2
Education ranking: 11

Located about twenty minutes away from San Jose, Calif., the small town of Cupertino has a population of about 50,000 -- and it is home to two very active venture capital firms, Bay Partners and Novus Ventures. There are also a number of established tech companies in the area--the biggest of which is probably Apple (AAPL, news, msgs).

Princeton, N.J.
Overall Ranking: 9
Ranking for venture capital activity: 14
Ranking for the number of active venture capital firms: 10
Ranking for the number of Forbes 400 members who live around the area: 1
Education ranking: 10

Princeton is known as a charming academic and literary town, but because of its location, it taps into the local academic resources, as well as the New York City metro area, which is a little over an hour away. The two most active venture capital firms in Princeton -- Domain Associates and HealthCare Ventures -- mainly invest in life sciences or biotechnology companies.

Wellesley, Mass.
Overall Ranking: 10
Ranking for venture capital activity: 18
Ranking for the number of active venture capital firms: 8
Ranking for the number of Forbes 400 members who live around the area: 7
Education ranking: 3

A quiet residential community about 15 miles west of Boston, Wellesley is accessible by Route 128/Route 95, and has a thriving academic community -- both Wellesley College and Babson College are located there. The two Wellesley-based venture capital firms that made PricewaterhouseCoopers' radar are Commonwealth Capital Ventures (which invests in communications and software companies) and Battery Ventures (which also invests in technology companies).

For more about Success in Life, visit Success in Life Online!

WHAT ARE THE RESULTS?

CANCER DISAPPEARS OVERNIGHT AFTER WOMAN APPLIES PRAYER CLOTH

Alyce gasped in horror as she looked in the mirror. Where she expected to see a simple sore in her mouth, she saw a white-crusted lesion, surrounded by black scabs.

For days she had been feeling pain in the roof of her mouth, but attributed it to a mouth sore and just avoided putting pressure in that area. As the pain worsened, she started chewing only on the other side of the mouth. But when Alyce saw what it looked like, she realized this was no common mouth sore.

With a sickening feeling, Alyce called her family physician. He examined the lesion, believed it to be cancerous and referred her to a surgeon.

After doing a biopsy and reviewing the pathology results, the surgeon reported to Alyce, "The tumor in your mouth is cancerous, and we'll have to remove it,” This meant removing half of the roof of her mouth. Alyce would need reconstructive surgery, and would have a speech impediment the rest of her life. Yet she knew she had no choice, so she consented, and the doctor scheduled surgery for two weeks later.

At home, Alyce decided to tune into a program called Success-N-Life that she had watched off and on in the past. The powerful testimonies of healing "built up my faith,” she says. “I said to myself,

'If God can do that for those people, He can do it for me'" (Acts 10:34).

Alyce called the 24-Hour Miracle Prayer Center and prayed in agreement for her healing (Mt. 18:19). When she received an anointed prayer cloth from Robert Tilton Ministries, she touched the lesion in her mouth with it, praying and releasing her faith for a miracle from God.

The next day, Alyce woke up and realized that her mouth was not sore. When her tongue couldn't find the lesion, she jumped out of bed and ran to the mirror. There she discovered that the roof of her mouth was a beautiful shade of pink...the lesion had disappeared.

Alyce went back to the surgeon a week later. Amazed to find no tumor, the doctor sent Alyce to another cancer specialist for verification. After he examined Alyce, he commented, "I don't know why she [the doctor] is sending you to me. Your mouth is healed." All tests came back with the same verdict: no cancer.

With surgery cancelled. Alyce rejoices, "I believe in miracles. I know they happen because I had one, and I tell everybody that will listen.”

GOD HEALS MAN'S HEART AND TRIPLES HIS INCOME

Only in his mid-thirties. Bill pleaded with God to let him die. During the past five years, his doctors had hospitalized him 45 times because of his severe heart problems.

But poor health wasn't his only concern; he had a wife and son to support, yet his severe physical problems made it hard to continue working.

A trip to Word of Faith Family Church brought a glimmer of hope to this problem-plagued family. "I had always just accepted everything and endured my circumstances,” Bill admits.

"But after learning about walking in faith. I decided to take a stand and believe God wanted to heal me and set my family free from the spirit of lack" (III Jn. 2).

And God did. Bill received his complete healing at a Word of Faith service when Robert Tilton laid hands on him and prayed.

Bill and his wife. Pat made a vow of thanksgiving to God and paid regularly on it as God provided. One day when Bill was seeking the Lord about starting his own delivery business, the phone rang. It was a prayer minister from Robert Tilton Ministries. This divine coincidence gave Bill the confidence he needed to get started.

After one year his delivery business tripled in earnings. "Vowing is a tool to prove God's Word;' Bill declares.

PRAYER ENDS 10-YEAR ORDEAL WITH DEAFNESS

When Jimmy lost 95 percent of his hearing in the right ear, he was not surprised. He had expected it. Years of working around loud machinery in his father's logging business contributed to his deafness.

"My condition bothered me but I had learned to live with it,” he says.

Coming across Success-N-Life, Jimmy learned that God wanted to heal him (Ex. 15:26). To exercise his faith, he made and began paying a $1,000 vow for his healing. One day, Robert Tilton gave a word of knowledge that God was healing deaf ears. Obediently, Jimmy placed one hand on the television screen and one on his ear, and prayed with Robert Tilton. Instantly, God restored his hearing.

He rejoices that his 10-year ordeal with deafness is finally over.

INCOME INCREASES AFTER WIFE LOSES JOB

After Theda lost her job her husband's salary wasn't enough to support them, so they started looking for other career options. Intrigued when a friend told them about her paper shredding business, Ricky started investigating this occupation and became very excited. The only hitch was their terrible credit rating.

About this time, Theda called Robert Tilton Ministries and made a $2,500 vow for finances. When a friend called the next day offering to finance their business with $150,000, Ricky and Theda knew that God was about to pour out His abundant blessings.

Secured Data Destruction opened for business and is flourishing beyond all expectations (Eph. 3:20). They expect a phenomenal $250,000 profit by the end of the year.

"When we made a vow to God,” Theda admits, "our mountain of debt didn't crumble, it exploded!"

SPEECH-IMPAIRED TODDLER CATCHES UP IN ONE MONTH

He could say only five words, and he had never said, "Mommy.” As a nurse and mother, Lisa knew something was wrong with her two-year-old son, Kenneth. A normal two-year-old’s vocabulary includes up to 200 words.

After examining Kenneth thoroughly, several doctors concluded that he was one year behind in his speech development. A battery of tests offered no explanation for this problem; and after three months of therapy, he had made no visible progress.

Early one morning. Lisa came across Success-N-Life, and Robert Tilton was speaking about a young child with a speech problem who would be miraculously healed (Mk. 7:34-35). Lisa reached out in faith and prayed with Pastor Tilton. Later, she called the Miracle Prayer Center and thanked the Lord with a $500 vow of faith for her son's healing.

In less than a week. Kenneth was talking! Overwhelmed by this miracle, Lisa turned her life over to Jesus Christ.

In one month, Kenneth's vocabulary grew to more than 100 words, but the one Lisa loves to hear him say most is, "Mommy.”

DISAPPEARANCE OF MALIGNANT MELANOMA AMAZES SURGEON

"Elva, you have malignant melanoma,” he told her after initial surgery. Although well schooled in patient relations, her doctor had found no easy way to present the cold facts. Elva left the hospital crying. How could this have happened to her, a vibrant woman of 35?

Just days ago, she was happily caring for her husband and son: now she faced a second surgery and possibly even death.

Constantly scared, Elva began watching Christian television. That's how she found Success-N-Life. "I was looking for someone to agree with me for a miracle healing,”Elva remembers.

One day Robert Tilton said that God wanted to heal a woman who had cancer and who was watching the program. Elva believed she was the woman and quickly placed her hand on the TV screen and prayed. Later, she called the prayer center and made a $100 vow to thank the Lord for her healing.

Her tests came back normal but convinced that the cancer was in her lymph glands, her doctors proceeded with the surgery. Much to their surprise, they found no trace of the cancer (1 Pet. 2:24). "The Lord healed me,” Elva declares, "and now I have true peace."

DOCTOR CALLS KIDNEY RESTORATION A MIRACLE

When her doctor couldn't identify the cause of Ginger's headache, nausea, and vomiting, her husband decided to take her to the Mayo Clinic for diagnosis. There a team of specialists discovered that her kidneys were operating at a capacity of only 50 percent.

"In essence, they told me to go home and wait until 1 didn't have any kidneys left, then they would begin searching for a donor,” she recalls.

Ginger believed that by suffering through her illness, she would encourage others. It wasn't until she watched Robert Tilton on television that she learned sickness does not glorify God. "The Lord has already taken care of these things,” she heard Pastor Tilton say (Mt. 8:17).

After making a $1,000 vow for her healing, Ginger continued to watch Success-N-Life. One day she heard Robert Tilton say that someone needed her kidneys healed. Claiming this prophecy, Ginger put her hands on the TV and asked God for a miracle. “I haven't been the same since," she announces.

Ginger's doctor has no problem with the healing either. "It's a miracle!" he exclaims.

KIDNAPPED BABY FOUND SAFE IN DRUG-INFESTED NEIGHBORHOOD

When someone stole her daughter's car and drove away with her 18-month-old granddaughter in the back seat. Cheryl immediately called the Success-N-Life Miracle Prayer Center.

She asked a prayer minister to agree with her that the police would find Amber quickly and unharmed.

Cheryl knew prayer and vowing worked (Ps. 50:14-15). They had pulled her out of several low points in her life: depression from two failed marriages, a mountain of debt, and the struggles of opening a new business. But now Cheryl's faith was on the line and severely tested.

Police responded vigorously to the emergency, sending several officers to search for the car that held the missing little girl. Acting on a hunch, one officer headed for a drug-infested apartment complex where thieves often abandoned stolen cars. Amid gunfire in this drug war zone, miraculously, he found the car and the baby, asleep with a lollipop in her hand.

Cheryl knew God had intervened, especially when the police officer told her that this was only the second kidnapping to be successfully solved this year in her city.

THREE DAY HEMORRHAGE STOPS TWO HOURS AFTER PRAYER

As she rushed her husband Charles to the emergency room because he was bleeding intestinally, Myrtle prayed harder than she ever had. Once her husband was at the hospital, his doctors discovered that the lower intestinal tract was flooded with blood. They ordered a series of tests, but were unable to locate the source of the bleeding.

For three days Myrtle remained in constant prayer for her husband's healing. "But I felt like nothing was happening,” she admits. “I needed someone to pray with me.” An avid viewer of Success-N-Life, she decided to call the prayer center and ask someone to pray in agreement with her (Mt. 18:19).

"As soon as the phone minister prayed with me for Charles' healing, peace flooded my heart and mind,” she says.

'Two hours after Myrtle's call, Charles' bleeding stopped. X-rays revealed a mysterious clotting in his lower intestinal tract. Charles and Myrtle praise God for this miracle.

WOMAN HEALED OF SYSTEMIC LUPUS; RETURNS TO WORK IN FIVE DAYS

"I was practically an invalid,” Brenda says of the severe effects of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). "I couldn't sit or walk without pain.” She consulted five physicians before the disease was diagnosed.

As Brenda lay on the sofa watching television one morning, she came across Success-N-Life. When Robert Tilton prayed for the sick, she put her hand on the TV screen and felt an intense heat go through her body.

"Everything miraculously changed,” she exclaims. Then Brenda called the prayer line and made a $100 vow of thanksgiving.

Five days later, she felt so good that she went back to work for the first time in months. Brenda knows God completely healed her (Ps. 103:3-4). She no longer has aches and pains and is able to be in the sun without repercussions. Not only were her doctors amazed, but when her husband saw her healing, he accepted the Lord as his Savior.

"I knew miracles were possible. I just didn't know how to ask for them,” Brenda says. "But through this ministry I have learned how to use my faith.”

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