Comments on: Does the DC Area Stifle Innovation?

By: The Military and Innovation Hubs : East Coast Blogging

The Military and Innovation Hubs : East Coast Blogging — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:18:27 +0000

[...] into the military. Of course I could be totally wrong, usually am … but as I stated in a post I previously wrote, at least in the DC area, I would say that the government has actually be the [...]

By: Kiem Tjong

Kiem Tjong — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 03:11:02 +0000

Jimmy,

i came over to your blog after reading your comment on Nick O’Neil’s post on DC’s startup culture…..great article, Jimmy, on government stifling technology innovation and I agree with you 100%. I don’t think though that it could be any other way, except if somehow we can keep the government sector and the private sector totally separate from one another. (Maybe that is why Silicon Valley is all the way on the other coast:-))Innovation can be a threat to bureaucracies but we cannot quite do without our bureaucracies.

I do my gov business in DC and some of my other business dealings in California and it is the only way for me to stay sane.

By: Steve Heath

Steve Heath — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:52:10 +0000

The government is not big into venture capitalism. It is, as you said, on the conservative side in its nature. Innovation can be costly and risky and the government is cheap and risk-adverse. Since they are the biggest game in town, it is easier, and more lucrative, to play it safe in order to land the work.

By: Jonathan Trenn

Jonathan Trenn — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:04:33 +0000

I’ve felt this way a long time. In fact, it now seems that government is getting a bit more progressive, but those government contractors are the ones that are slow to change. Then there’s a associations, organizations that often completely fear change.

A lot of the technology companies here often provide a “solution” in the BtoB sector. Not glamourous. Companies like WebMethods. We’re short on the WhyGoSolos of the world.

By: jimmy

jimmy — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 17:36:56 +0000

Curt,

I am not trying to get to the extremes. True, we did have AOL, but they are gone. Why ? I really think it is in part due some of the points I made above. I agree, DC is like those other cities, but I was just pondering why it isnt one on my list …

jimmy

By: Curt Monash

Curt Monash — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 16:49:12 +0000

Let’s not take the point to extremes. AOL and I believe some major phone companies were based in the DC area. Legent, Software AG, VM Software, Intersolv, et al. add up to a tiny group compared with software in Boston or SF, but are competitive with most other metro areas. And Seattle used to be a government/aerospace town.

From a tech industry standpoint, the DC area is a lot like Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, LA, Houston, or Philadelphia. It just falls short of SF, Boston, and Seattle.

By: Keith Casey

Keith Casey — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:28:45 +0000

I think there’s another thing – and we’ve hit this with WhyGoSolo quite a bit – it’s the mindset of the investors…

In various other places, people got rich and into investment due to taking a bit of risk themselves. It paid off and some point and now they’re looking for more. In DC, it’s a bit different people got rich by having the same job/working in the same field for 20+ years and watching their property values skyrocket. They didn’t take risks and made it just fine… so they’re risk adverse.

Does it stifle innovation? Definitely. It quietly convinces innovators and entrepreneurs that DC is not the place for them. That our time and energy is spent better in other markets.