What makes Connecticut a good place to build a business?

Rebellion Group CEO Bryn Tindall and XVIVO Scientific Animation CEO Michael Astrachan tackled that question during an appearance on WFSB’s Eyewitness News Extra, part of a wider conversation about entrepreneurship, technology, and the Connecticut business community ahead of Forum@535.

Tindall came to Connecticut by choice. After living in Florida, he found himself repeatedly traveling north to reach the places where business decisions were being made. Connecticut offered something difficult to replicate: a location directly between two of the country’s most important business centers.

“I chose Connecticut because it sits between Boston and New York,” Tindall said. “I can drive up to Boston. I can drive down to New York.”

For Astrachan, the connection is even deeper. Born and raised in Connecticut, he built his career here, evolving from a commercial artist into an entrepreneur leading XVIVO, a scientific animation company doing highly technical work for clients working at the edge of medicine and science.

Asked why he stayed, Astrachan pointed to both business and quality of life.

“There’s great business opportunities here,” he said, citing Connecticut Innovations, Yale, and UConn as “great centers of innovation and technology.”

Those advantages don’t mean Connecticut is without challenges. But they do offer a different starting point for the conversation about the state’s future: proximity to major markets, world-class institutions, innovative companies, and entrepreneurs who have chosen to build here.

The opportunity is to connect more of them and give their ideas more reasons to stay.