If you want to get a sense of how startups are doing in the Mid-Atlantic region, the story is behind this chart on the right, which gives it to you in a nut shell: Venture capital investment is down, waaaaaaaay down. And that has the effect of putting a damper on early stage investments that angels are making (or not making) in promising young startups. It's a trickle-down effect...and it's a drought, not a storm, of capital.

I wrote a story about this phenomenon today. Check it out here.

Times are tough out there for the poor startup. Entrepreneurs are knocking on doors, looking for angel investors and being turned away. About the only small companies that seem to get a little traction out there, generally, are biotech companies -- which benefit from a generous investment tax credit from the state of Maryland.

Banks are still tight with credit and lending. One angel investor told me of how a friend in banking refers entrepreneurs to him because the banker can't do anything for them.

What do you think is going on out there? Any startups wish to give us a first-person account?