Not very long ago I was pointing to a very smart initiative on how to grow the local hackers’ community (partially as a possible solution to the issue Vladimir Oane was raising).
Another issue from the same article ☞ is that our market feels provincial. While that is probably true, I am pretty sure that we are not alone here and others are going through the same things and they are still able to come up with good solutions:
First, pick a place that entrepreneurs (and other creative class-types) would love to live. Great weather, a strong university, outdoor sports, cafe culture, good restaurants - you get the idea. Then, create an encouraging environment for early-stage companies. You don’t need massive amounts of capital available for VC investment - modest amounts will do. Accept that many successful companies are going to want to be backed by big-name firms in other cities. Instead, focus on getting them ready for that stage. Provide early seed capital, and be the ones to make those introductions. Make your city a gateway to other opportunities, so that entrepreneurs can increase their access by starting there. And do your customer development. If you talk to early-stage entrepreneurs who randomly landed in Silicon Valley, you’ll hear just how hard it is to break into the scene here. Because you’re not asking entrepreneurs to forsake those bigger cities, it’s a no-brainer to give your city a shot.
Summarizing, we have to get passed over the disconnected state and then we can get over our provincialism by starting to behave like a startup hub and helping each other in openness. And that looks like doable.
The only concern I have is that we are almost completely lacking openness and the knowledge of offering real help. Can we change that?
