Creation Contemplation

It seems a number of cities have refocused their efforts to galvanize entrepreneurship in their communities, and there is no shortage of suggested solutions. In New York City, a new report released by the Center for an Urban Future highlights the complexity involved to build an entrepreneurial community. The report seeks explanation for why New York City with so many components that typically spawn new companies lags behind in creating startups. Like other researchers, the report indicates a lack of seasoned entrepreneurs that create entrepreneurial ecosystems; in fact the report cites an under investment in technology transfer and entrepreneurial development more generally. More area specific, the report talks about the lack of engineering talent necessary to catalyze the science, and the lack of infrastructural and financial support from government agencies and the investment community. The high cost of starting a company in the NYC area where real estate is, well, pricey is also a factor (one we note Silicon Valley seems to have overcome).

On the opposite coast, San Diego created a task force to look into why so many VCs have scaled back local operations and boost support for the local tech community. Further north, entrepreneurs in Seattle are asking for more bars, and of all things, more coffee shops as meeting places. (We hope it’s just one person who hasn’t figured out the density of coffee shops in Seattle.) The Seattle natives also pointed to loosening restrictions for university professors to work with companies and encouraging partnerships as other ways to spur innovation.

What does this mean for other communities who want to build their own backyard of startups? A few things. First, it’s more complex than good ideas + $ + good people.
Second, local, state and federal governments can be helpful to the process. Finally, not all places are created equal. In addition to the usual factors identified, there seems to be a certain intangible vibe to the cities that create strong tech entrepreneurial ecosystems. Tech entrepreneurs seem to want to live in places that are fun, young, energetic and hip. There is a common thread to towns like Palo Alto, Boulder, Austin and Boston that you don’t find everywhere. It also doesn’t hurt that each of those towns has a thriving engineering and/or life sciences program. It’s hard to know how a city goes about trying to create this culture if it desired to do so, but it does seem to be a big intangible driver to why some cities have more success with this than others.