Credit: BetaBoston

The best discussions never take in a formal setting.  Where do you get your best deals done?

A BetaBoston article recently spurred the topic, noting the following scene:

“Most cities would kill for a meeting place as magical as the open brick courtyard behind the Charles Hotel. It’s a simple enough spot: benches and planters, a portal leading to Harvard Square, and two restaurants with patios, Legal Seafoods and Henrietta’s Table. But it’s the place where fast-growing startups like Recorded Future, which helps businesses anticipate cyberattacks, and Formlabs, which makes a 3D printer, first connected with investors. The travel site Kayak was born over a lunch at Legal’s, the two founders agreeing to put in a million bucks each and toasting with gin and tonics. In the spring of 2004, two Harvard undergrads, Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg, ate breakfast at an outdoor table at Henrietta’s and talked to a junior venture capitalist about their month-old startup, Thefacebook. His Waltham firm, Battery Ventures, passed.”