A New Technology Capital?

Washington is well known as a crossroads of global influence with a constant incoming stream of some of the brightest people in the world. From among the elements of what may be a greenhouse for it’s development, DC’s local technology business sector has become strong and is positioning itself, along with the local economy, to grow and thrive.

David Zipper, DC’s Director of Business Development and Strategy at Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development said, “It’s a big deal that we have so many young people coming in and out of DC all the time. It can both help us and hurt us.” People often come to DC to save the world for four years (and often less), then move on. It’s known as “a company town” - not where people make their homes and invest in communities - but could that be changing?

Mayor Vincent Gray recently signed the DC technology sector enhancement act into law, which includes five years of corporate income tax abatement that starts when technology companies based in DC become profitable. All benefits of DC tech incentives are available to any tech company in the District no matter where in the city the company is located.

“Let me be candid, the bill could have done even more,” said mayor Gray. A major change to the DC tax code giving incentive to DC based investors was removed by the DC council before the bill passed, “Largely because it wasn’t understood,” explained the mayor. DC local government has been working in cooperation with leaders of the newly burgeoning tech sector, including attracting companies like Fortify.VC, a venture capital firm that houses a startup incubator and hosts an annual pitch competition, Distilled Intelligence, which relocated to DC this year, and has resulted in millions in investment for it’s participants. 

Visionary, Jill Maguire

Will DC be the next Silicon Valley? In a way, perhaps, but as Julie Kantor, CSO of Barrel of Jobs, one of the winner’s of Distilled Intelligence put it, these developments at least mean that “Startups don’t necessarily have to go to New York or Silicon Valley to get investment capital anymore. Winning Distilled Intelligence led to some phenomenal investor meetings.” Kantor, born and raised in DC, pointed out the potential strength of connecting improvements in the startup ecosystem and DC’s local education system to increase avenues to comprehensive social & economic improvements.

“We like to celebrate the city,” said Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber during his keynote speech at DC Week, a celebration of the growing tech sector in Washington. “This is a place I’ve been spending a lot of time recently,” he continued. He had put up a picture of the Wilson Building, which holds the offices of DC council members, eliciting nervous, appreciative laughter from the crowd. The juxtaposition of historic & modern seen in that particular sample of DC architecture gave illustrative perspective for Kalanick’s overview of what it’s been like for Uber to succeed so wildly. “Not everybody is so happy about it, and I think a lot of entrepreneurs understand what it’s like to disrupt, what it means to bring innovation to an industry that hasn’t seen it for decades,” Kalanick explained as he  moved to an image of the first of many cease & desists that Uber has gotten.  

Indeed, the 2,000 member audience Kalanick spoke to, and at every one of the over 100 DC Week events where a direct question was posed, consisted of a majority of people from DC who were self-described current or aspiring entrepreneurs. iStrategy Labs CEO Peter Corbett, who also co-produced DC Week, is one of the main figures responsible for inspiring and regularly creating opportunities for these entrepreneurs to come together. 

“Everything we do, we want to make it so sticky they don’t want to leave. They’re gonna stay, and they’re going to build their businesses, they’re gonna build their families, they’re going to be here forever. And that’s selfish...I want to make this the most interesting place in the world, so I don’t have to leave.” said Corbett in reference to the developing community of tech entrepreneurs in DC.

Washington, DC has always had strengths. It has always been the nexus of some of the most powerful networks, but always transient. However, with a bit of collective consciousness, good leadership, clear avenues for investment and growth, partnerships with local government, and a willingness to disrupt what is in order to possibly bring something better, the District of Columbia may also be becoming a capital of technology and innovation.

I Think Something is Really Happening Here

What if you could look on one screen at all of the public transportation options in DC at the same time and choose the best route home (metro, bus, capital bike share, zipcar, and car2go)? Have you ever tried to cook from a recipe on your ipad or smartphone without getting food on the screen? A voice controlled cooking app called sous chef and an all in one dc transit app called go dc.me are just two of the ideas generated this week alone at DC Week.  

This week, DC’s business and tech savvy creative class is showing it’s colors at DC Week, a festival slash conference happening all over the city, aimed at bringing together social innovators of all kinds. I think something is really going on here.

photo courtesy of BenDROZphotography

While plenty of people cite the parties (especially the closing party, which is going to be SICK, I hear) as one of the most exciting things about the week, it’s really about social innovation. “We really view it as our job to catalyze as much creation as possible.” said event co-producer Peter Corbett, CEO of iStrategy Labs reflecting on the 2011 event. There are just over 100 very diverse events throughout the week, reflecting the depth and reach of this prolific network.

Lots of the events are nearly or already sold out, but not all of them, and contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a badge for all of (actually not for a lot of) the events. (Ps: pls be nice and RSVP if you can.) But hey, maybe you crash one or two and make a new friend and maybe get a free t-shirt or a drink (I know I’ve already gotten several of each and it’s only Monday = #signofagreatweek ) and start exchanging ideas. That’s kind of what they’re going for here. See the full schedule. 

“We’re inviting the community to not only participate, but to drive an agenda.” said Jen Consalvo, COO of Tech Cocktail, and added “This is about about a region coming together to create something bigger and better. Not only that, but to really come together and shine a light on what’s happening and what can happen in this world. This is not just about DC, this is about creatives and thinkers, and people who want to make a difference.”

“the opening party in full swing” photo courtesy of @Corbett3000 

The opening party at Penn Social was a room full of entrepreneurs, product promoters, talent recruiters, and people trying to meet and learn from them. Listen Local First, a DC based initiative creating alternate avenues for local musicians and venues to collaborate with locally owned organizations and businesses, brought Cannon.fm  to the festival, and is working with cannon on an app that will be “like a local spotify or pandora” said LLF co-founder Chris Naoum.

“I think DC Week is about putting us on the map and proving that this is an up-and-coming entrepreneur community that has got a lot going on and is going to be successful.” said Danny Boice, co-founder and CTO of Speek, which just closed a million dollar seed round, almost entirely from DC investors. “DC has been kind of a sleeper city in terms of startups. People say you can’t raise money in DC, but we did, and it wasn’t easy, but it never is.” 

After being the Series A winner of Distilled Intelligence in October and growing about 12% a week since they launched in June, Speek might be one current flagship of the #DCTech community. However, this is a self-proclaimed tight-knit, openly collaborative community, collectively hunting for new contributors, ways to improve and cross-pollinate ideas, products, solutions and platforms into relentlessly new and better forms.

They’re looking for smart, motivated, innovative people who want to build something.They want to help people start good businesses, and profit from them. (Hello? Did somebody say job-market?) So here’s your chance even if this your first time to hear about it. Find them. Meet them. Make friends with them. These people are up to something great. Something is really going on here.

Some major highlights of DC Week are yet to come in the keynotes, core conference and closing party later this week, but the real gems will only really come to be seen months and maybe years from now. They are the conversations, new connections, and sparks of an idea that maybe, just maybe, will turn into something really great. So for those creatives and thinkers around the District waiting for an invitation to drive and contribute to and build something better, DC Week is an excellent place to start.

Are you an Employee or an Entrepreneur?

The declaration “I am an entrepreneur” is surely more satisfying in this social media age than wearing a name tag or passing out the “standard corporate” business card.  In my millennial generation, we like to think we’re calling the shots, writing our own profiles, that we have no respect for the man--when most of us are just filling out the “About me” interface handed to us with little but over-used quotes. Are we really the rebels we brag like? And if we are, is that even a good thing? Is it better to think like an employee or an entrepreneur?

My friend recently inherited a large, very full mini-storage unit. This friend also happens to be facing--through no fault of her own--a serious debt crisis. I came to help her clean the unit out. We found everything from $500 business suits & stetsons to weird but expensive collector’s items--star wars special edition dolls (new the in box), crystal music boxes, about a bajillion baseball cards & autographed gear. She was very focused on clearing the place out to avoid the monthly fee, because her temp job didn’t pay that well. I saw dollar signs all over that stuff & suggested she try to sell it instead of trying to find more regular work for now.

“Honestly, selling this stuff online is going to pay you a LOT more than any other use of your time.” I told her, but she wouldn’t have it.  She gave away thousands of dollars of ebay-able merchandise. I thought it was dumb at the time, but maybe I wasn’t thinking straight.  Maybe, given all of the other stress going on in my friend’s life at that time, it wouldn’t have been a good choice for her. She wasn’t up to it.  Let us be humans--not just producers. We have to invest what we’ve got wisely, but emotional stability is an economic resource just like dollar bills.

Many of us don’t invest our resources well because we don’t realize what they are. We don’t see value in what we have-- an idea, a skill, an audience--so we don’t do the pruning & feeding that could make it bear fruit. One of my biggest professional growth areas over the last few years has actually been evening the scale in favor of thinking like an employee. I’ve always had good ideas, but overstepping my bounds was the only thing that’s ever gotten me fired. Even though my boss was totally wrong & making terrible decisions --his business went under shortly after he fired me, but I couldn’t’ve known that would happen-- I let being right ruin the resource that provided for me, my job.

Business owners, even some of the really big top dogs are wise to think about investing in relationships-- even over-investing before it's really obvious that they need to. I like to think I’m smart. I’d love to own my own business, or write for a living.  However, even the most brazen entrepreneurial minds need grooming. For most of us, it’s at least partially in learning to operate like a good employee that we’ll find our niche in the market and find success in our ventures. Anxious as I am to show my stuff,  I think lengthy seasons of  learning-- serving under a good boss will give better results in the long run. Like a good bottle of wine--I could probably stand to stay on the vine for awhile.

Giving Your Life Away

I'm a student of Economics deep down to my soul. As luck would have it, I chose to major in ECON before I knew that. I love efficiency and the art of making things productive. I also grew up in a family that owned its own businesses -- knowing the empowerment and struggle of self-employment as a way of life. Lately life has been giving me a renewed love of small enterprises-- that risky business that costs a little more of your time and brain space, but gives you more than just monetary rewards.

We live in the world of the possible. I can communicate and transact instantaneously across the globe from the palm of my hand, and I'm not even rich. All this possibility, in my mind, sort of begs the question "what do we do with it?"

What am I doing with the best I have? How am I using my brain capacity? Do I write down those brilliant ideas and take the time to give them a shot, or settle back into the sofa for more re-runs of Seinfeld? They say if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life. Well, I think you'd probably find a few of your days "work" no matter what field you love, but certainly a lot less of them. It makes me wonder though, how many of us have really researched what it would take to do what we love, or given starting or participating in small business a shot? Do we really know what would it take to create our own wealth from something we have passion for?

Are we trading our dreams for something safer? In our attempt to avoid risk are we sacrificing that stuff that makes us feel alive?