Question
What stops Washington, DC from becoming a startup hub?
Answer
I've been in the area 2 years, and of the reasons people have mentioned, I'd say that the two biggest reasons are low spatial density and lack of an anchor institution (generalizing from 'company').
When I visit the Bay Area, I know where to go to just feel like I am in the startup scene: any coffee shop in downtown Palo Alto or SoMA is a great place to just show up and feel the vibe. You are likely to overhear interesting geeky conversations or spot an entrepreneur earnestly pitching an angel over an untouched breakfast. And I don't even live in the area. By contrast in DC, though I've lived here for a couple of years, I still don't know where the happening "tech district" is. There seem to be isolated hot spots, and I do get messages from people like Peter Corbett, but the overall impression is that this is a region that is primarily up to "other stuff" and tech is just a bunch of lonely voices scattered around. Maybe I am wrong, and there is some random side-street in Adams Morgan, near Amsterdam Falafel or something, where the area tech people congregate. If so, it needs to be better publicized.
Lack of an anchor institution: you don't have to have a Google or Yahoo spawning bright-eyed entrepreneurs. Other institutions can do the trick, like a good tech-entrepreneurship focused University. For the Bay Area, that's primarily Stanford. DC area universities (Hopkins, AU, GW, Georgetown) simply aren't credible startup-hub universities. You'd think that the government institutions might play that role (NSF, SBA...) but I don't think they have the culture to step up the plate.
It's a pity, since I think the region is spectacular in every other way. I am considering moving to California next year, just to be closer to the epicenter of things. But I actually prefer the DC region to the Bay Area in most other ways.
That said, I do agree with the commenter who suggested turning the region's apparent liability into a strength: government focused startups. But "hurry up and wait" as someone put it, is hardly the most attractive mode of operation for a tech startup impatient to put betas out there and iterate in an agile way...
When I visit the Bay Area, I know where to go to just feel like I am in the startup scene: any coffee shop in downtown Palo Alto or SoMA is a great place to just show up and feel the vibe. You are likely to overhear interesting geeky conversations or spot an entrepreneur earnestly pitching an angel over an untouched breakfast. And I don't even live in the area. By contrast in DC, though I've lived here for a couple of years, I still don't know where the happening "tech district" is. There seem to be isolated hot spots, and I do get messages from people like Peter Corbett, but the overall impression is that this is a region that is primarily up to "other stuff" and tech is just a bunch of lonely voices scattered around. Maybe I am wrong, and there is some random side-street in Adams Morgan, near Amsterdam Falafel or something, where the area tech people congregate. If so, it needs to be better publicized.
Lack of an anchor institution: you don't have to have a Google or Yahoo spawning bright-eyed entrepreneurs. Other institutions can do the trick, like a good tech-entrepreneurship focused University. For the Bay Area, that's primarily Stanford. DC area universities (Hopkins, AU, GW, Georgetown) simply aren't credible startup-hub universities. You'd think that the government institutions might play that role (NSF, SBA...) but I don't think they have the culture to step up the plate.
It's a pity, since I think the region is spectacular in every other way. I am considering moving to California next year, just to be closer to the epicenter of things. But I actually prefer the DC region to the Bay Area in most other ways.
That said, I do agree with the commenter who suggested turning the region's apparent liability into a strength: government focused startups. But "hurry up and wait" as someone put it, is hardly the most attractive mode of operation for a tech startup impatient to put betas out there and iterate in an agile way...