Local entrepreneurs seeking to launch companies and hire talent are finding that when it comes to Pittsburgh, smaller actually may be better. Seasoned executives return calls and make time for coffee. Real estate prices are a bargain. And everyone seems to know everyone else, making networking far easier than in bigger, trendier places.

"I find people to be extraordinarily giving with their time in ways that, from what I've heard about in other cities, are not that common," said Jaime Smith, who left the Internet services firm FreeMarkets 16 months ago to head Cepstral LLC, a South Side voice technology maker.

Through his web of contacts, many connected to his former employer, Smith has raised enough money to grow Cepstral to a point that it's now hiring. "One of the things that keeps me in Pittsburgh is the network I've been able to build."

Accessibility is what compelled Razi Imam, a former marketing vice president at Pine-based telecommunications software maker CoManage, to leave an executive position at a large Virginia-based software firm to launch his own software firm, SalesGene, in Robinson.

Lower attorney and accountant fees, access to government officials for advice on grants and loans, and guidance from other local successful local entrepreneurs on everything from how to protect family investors to developing a marketable product have proved invaluable. "When you have such a tight network, the speed at which you can get a company running is substantial," Iman said.

With the nation's battered high-tech sector starting to show signs of life -- notably Internet search firm Google's recent decision to go public -- local tech enthusiasts believe the region may be in a position to capitalize by offering a big-city lifestyle with a small-town ambiance and smaller-town prices. Several recent multimillion-dollar deals involving local tech firms and signs of pick-up in hiring only add to the optimism.

"The pickup in Pittsburgh is very recent," said Gina Shaffer, president of Hire Demand, an IT-infused, Cranberry-based staffing firm. Companies are taking their time to find the "right fit," but prospective employees are, too, suggesting they believe there are more options these days.

Members of the region's tightly knit tech community insist that discovering talented workers and finding customers can be a mere phone call or e-mail away.

For example, when Jim Rock left the foundering Boston-based Internet consulting concern Zefer's local office two years ago to consider his next move, he turned to a list of about 60 local acquaintances for their ideas and for help. That brought him to Carnegie Mellon University mechanical engineering professor Ken Gabriel, and the pair launched Akustica, a specialized chip developer on the South Side that has landed $12.5 million in venture capital so far.

The two were set up by David Kalson, chief of emerging business for the Downtown law firm Cohen & Grigsby. Kalson knew one, Gabriel, had technology with enormous potential, and the other, Rock, was seeking a new start-up to throw himself into.

"When Ken and I met, we clicked immediately," said Rock. "We had the same style and vision and wanted to take advantage of Pittsburgh's great resources ... it's really rare."

Imam has a similar networking love story.

It's how he discovered his partner and chief technology officer, former FreeMarkets executive Anupam Singh. The duo had never met before they were introduced via e-mail by CoManage co-founder Andy Fraley and Sean Sebastian, principal of the local venture capital concern Birchmere Ventures.

Singh had recently left FreeMarkets in search of his next adventure and Imam needed a partner. At a quick coffee date that was extended for two hours, Singh and Iman decided to join forces. "Anupam didn't want just another a job, he wanted a challenge, and I was definitely starting a challenge," Imam said.

Rob Lang, who co-founded South Side-based sales and marketing firm Telescope Consulting, laughs at how everyone not only seems to know everyone in the local tech community, they all also seem to be friends. "I always say there are six degrees of separation and there are two degrees in Pittsburgh," Lang said, chuckling.

In January, Lang and his partner Rob Austin launched Telescope after being brought together by mutual friends at FreeMarkets, where Austin worked before leaving last summer. Lang had been CEO of consulting firm Blue Hammock, and before that, had worked with Akustica's Rock when they both opened and ran the Pittsburgh office of Massachusetts-based consulting company Cambridge Technology Partners.

One thing the region's close-knit character can't do for his firm and many tech start-ups, Lang said, is provide enough money, particularly seed capital for entrepreneurs still trying to transform ideas into a company. Luckily for Lang and Austin, they're self-funded, so far. "Investors are shell-shocked from the past three years," said Lang. "And they are not investing or they aren't investing as much as they have in the past."

Kalson, the Cohen & Grigsby lawyer, does believe the spigots are loosening, but only somewhat. "It's not easy, it's easier," Kalson said of local start-ups' ability to raise money. "They have to work harder for their money."