Fostering the Startup Culture
February 9, 2008 · Print This Article
In my head, I always keep coming back to this question: What is it that fosters a startup culture? we are all well aware of the Silicon Valley and its impact on technology and startups. It is the measuring stick. But what brings this out in some areas and not others ? There is a great piece by John Markoff in todays New York Times titled “Seattle Taps Its Inner Silicon Valley”
As we have begun to see, Seattle is emerging as a new center for startups, just behind the Valley and Boston. The funding is there
Money is pouring in. During the last 12 years, venture capital investment here has more than tripled, to about $1 billion annually. Last year Washington tied with Texas as the third-largest destination for venture capital money nationwide, behind California and Massachusetts.
As I was reading there were a few things that stood out about Seattle when compared to Silicon Valley. The first was the mention of the University of Washington and how
It is fostering the entrepreneurial climate here the way Stanford University does in Silicon Valley ….
A crucial part of the chemistry is the University of Washington, in particular its computer science and electrical engineering departments. Washington State ranks first nationally in engineers employed for every 10,000 workers and in percent of total payroll in high technology
as well as the large talent pool living there as a by product of the presence of Microsoft and Amazon in the area.
As I read articles like this, my thoughts always drift off and wonder if the DC area has what it takes to allow this startup culture to grow and flourish. Of course we do have many great schools in the area, and the University of Maryland does a great job with Computer Science and Engineering, but of course I dont think we would confuse it with Stanford, maybe I am wrong though. The article also states the need for a startup ecosystem to include social networks and support businesses. I think the DC area has all of this, so far. However, one thing that stuck out to me was
a business culture that views failure as a badge of honor, not shame
I am not sure we are there yet when it comes to this last statement. Being a big government employed and support town, I do not see DC as accepting of failure as the other areas mentioned. This town is about results and politics, not necessarily in that order.
I am fortunate to be getting involved in the local tech scene and I see many great things happening here in the area. People like Nick O’Neill and Ann Bernard along with the crew from Mixx, Clearspring, and all the others on the “list” are doing really good things and working to make DC like the other cities mentioned here.
Jimmy, I think you are definitely on to a few things here
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. The other thing to consider is the chicken/egg of a self-selecting population like DC. Who comes to live here and why vs. who lives in a place like the Valley, and what brought them there.
Consider the population at large, the influx of new workers and the microeconomic choices that these groups make to stay or leave a place. My [non-original] hypothesis would be that people stay in (locals) or move to (transients) DC for its proximity to all things political (gov’t agencies, the Hill, associations, etc.). To relate it back to what you are talking about: the talent pool would be skewed towards folks interested in and experienced with things like policy, economics, social sciences, campaigns, communications, etc.
Other things on the list, some of which you have pointed out, like weather and culture, cost of living and schools, etc. all play into the decisions young and old make when choosing to be a part of DC or another town. DC has great things to offer (museums, history, international population), and then we have not so great things too (crime, some of the schools, weather).
This replicates time and time again each time a new population (each “batch” of college grads, for example) has a choice of coming here… they see who is already here and what it is that DC specializes in and make their decision to move in or stay out. If you were a bright young programmer-entrepreneur, would DC be a good fit? or would the Valley or Seattle be more “up your alley”? (pun intended)
I think some of the biggest opportunities capitalize of the Capitol things we have… we have a strong hold on politics and government., so what would getting them involved as support businesses, networks, etc. look like? Far from an expert on this topic or what is really going on, but very interested in studying, participating and helping where I can.
Additionally, I would imagine it is already going on in more traditional ways and traditional organizations. Would love to see more overlap with the groups that have been gaining momentum in the new media/social media/bar camps/web start up space. A good example would be what Justin Thorp did while he was with the Library of Congress — getting them involved with Flickr, blogging and One Laptop Per Child = amazing and beneficial across all space and time (their blog is even up for an award at SxSw: http://drinkingoatmealstout.com/2008/02/09/the-library-of-congress-blog-is-a-finalist-in-the-sxsw-web-awards/)
[…] Yes we all know it is true, when we think “Start Up” we think Silicon Valley. There is no argument there. Here at East Coast Blogging, we often wade in and ponder this what’s and why’s that make the valley such a special place. We also look at the other areas that are smaller, yet very good tech hubs where startups seem to gravitate and thrive. […]
You make some great points and the funny thing is that a few days ago, I was talking to a friend of mine and told him that I just quit my job and will give a stab at the startup thing and if it doesn’t work out, I will look for a job. Then I added “but all the companies i want to work for are in California”.
Anyway, thanks for the list of dc startups. I had no idea all these were from this area. I plan to switch from Digg to Mixx on my blogs - in support