“Montreal has the opportunity to be the best ecosystem in the world for Open Source software startups. We’ve got a good cadre of entrepreneurs here who’ve had experience with building Open Source companies. We have investors who’ve been through the process of investing in and nurturing Open Source companies. And we have the all-important talent pool of people who’ve been part of the process.

More importantly, there’s not another leading Open Source city on the globe. San Francisco and Boston have a few companies, but they’re definitely not hubs. The commercial Open Source landscape is spread much further across the globe – from London to Utah to Germany to Austin.”

Whether Montreal, Boston, Portland Oregon, or another city, this title could confer significant economic benefit to the winner.

Sam and I met in 1997 in Beijing and reconnected recently thanks to the internet. With his new book coming out and a promotional tour in the works, Sam will be arriving in New York City this fall to speak at the Harvard Club and other locations about his book and current projects.