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920!N!34th!St,!Ste!#200!|!Seattle,!WA!98103!|!206652669985(p)!|!206652668920!(f)!|!sales@datstat.com!|!www.datstat.com!!

! May 15, 2013 Mayor’s Office PO Box 94749 Seattle, WA 98124-4749 Dear Mayor McGinn: Your GeekWire interview regarding the Startup Seattle initiative caught my eye. What a fantastic idea to support entrepreneurs and build a startup kingdom in Seattle! I’m writing to suggest that all types of small technology firms – not just startups – be included in your efforts. Every startup begins as a small business, after all. A select few will experience amazing success, others will fade away, and some of us will find a third way – building a reliable business that grows sustainably and employs locally by serving customers worldwide with homegrown software and services. That’s what we’ve done at DatStat, where we’ve been building survey software for top research and healthcare institutions since 1997. Although I was born and raised in Silicon Valley (daughter of a Stanford University business school professor), I chose to start, build, and scale right here in the Emerald City. I love Seattle! Plus, DatStat resulted from my Ph.D. research at the UW, which is just one of the many ways that Seattle has been good to DatStat. The efforts you outlined are well aligned with the startup ecosystem’s needs. Here are three complimentary efforts that would serve startups and more-established firms equally well: Support local startups and small businesses by searching for software that’s built within 100 miles of Seattle. Expand our buy local ethos beyond the grocery and into our workplaces. Our technology community has reached the point that someone in this area is probably building a solution for any business need imaginable, so let’s find and support these organizations.

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“Think Seattle” when requesting bids and proposals An RFP came across my desk this morning from the City of Austin, in which local businesses in that city will be rewarded with a 10 percent bonus on their response scoring. I’d love to see Seattle organizations – public and private sector alike – include this same type of language to build business in our region (and to promote some friendly competition among local businesses). Help small businesses take care of their employees We’ve never wavered from our commitment to provide health insurance to our employees at 100%. Yet, it’s no secret that this gets more difficult as premiums rise by double-digits annually. We need a strategy for helping small business to provide insurance coverage and meet their obligations of city-mandated sick/safe leave. Like our Fremont neighbor, Tableau, DatStat is all about patience, perseverance, and passion. Seattle is the kind of place where that matters and we are proud of that fact. We are thrilled to have the support of your Startup Seattle initiative. How can DatStat help ensure that the initiative benefits technology firms large and small in our city? Sincerely,

Elizabeth (Lizza) Miller, Ph.D. CEO and Co-founder