The Post Gets Me in Trouble (Probably)

So, I have a few hours left in New York and I'm that kind of exhausted that's too exhausted to nap. We fly back tonight, and then I've got a 5 a.m. wake up for Yahoo. It's going to be BRUTAL. Just brutal. So while I have a bit of stamina, I figured I'd blog some more about my Washington DC experience.

First off-- I was blown away by the excitement of the scene. I didn't get enough time to do deep dives on everyone's businesses, obviously, but I definitely heard about a few cool ideas. Like LA, I was struck that there weren't just a lot of "me too" ideas. More than that, there is a palpable will among everyone I met to drag DC into being a hip, hot Web hotspot, kicking and screaming if they have to.

Every center of innovation needs a cocktail of things:

-wild, almost naive ambition
-money
-a culture of risk taking
-a social scene where Valley-like serendipitous moments can happen. (You know, stuff like: Oh, hey! I haven't seen you in forever! You're starting a company? OMG I know an angel investor who's really into that space! etc)
-big companies techies can spin off from
-universities

I think DC has some of those. The ambition is there for sure, and people like Justin Thorp, Peter Corbett and Frank Gruber are great "human routers" to continually bring new people into the scene and keep the existing ones mixing, mingling-- and most important for DC-- keep them from moving to the Valley in frustration.

One of the biggest holes seems to be money. I didn't hear rave reviews of the local investing scene. And perhaps a greater culture of risk taking in a town dominated by very safe, recession-proof government jobs.

Still, I told Zachary Goldfarb of The Washington Post that I could see the potential for DC to become the new East Coast powerhouse for Web. He wrote about it on his blog and kinda got me in trouble by saying I declared Boston "dead," so I'll explain a little better. I really meant Boston's Web scene--if it ever had one-- is dead. Boston is still one of the larger tech cities, but as I've written about on this blog and on TechTicker, it's really fallen off as a center of innovation and has just never really gotten Web. Remember: Boston was actually where venture capital originated. While Silicon Valley far outpaced it over the age of the chip-computer-software-web, Boston was at least a solid no. 2 in terms of new company formation, funding and job creation through the 1990s. Not anymore.

So why DC over NYC? There's clearly a Web scene in New York with more big names and glitz and way more money. But there's so much going on in New York that the Web scene tends to come and go. I'm not convinced we'll keep seeing solid startup ideas coming out of New York once the Web 2.0 excitement fully wears off. New York is a city of opportunists, traders, savvy market watchers. It's a city that masters the trend: how to create it, fuel it, and how to profit off it. So it's no surprise that there seems to be some momentum-chasing in the Web scene here. That wasn't the vibe among the Webbies in DC. It may not have seemed as slick or sophisticated as New York, but there was more authenticity. More guys just building things they were really into.

Of course, charming as that is, DC needs to have some big hits to really keep fueling that risk taking culture, base of startup workers and local money to seed new ideas. AOL is long in the tooth and the Twitter purchase of Summize is great and all, but not a huge monetary hit in the grand scheme.

Frank and I debated whether you could start a great Web company anywhere at our AOL panel Thursday. (Towards the end of the clip here.) I still say you're better off in the Valley. Starting a company is so fraught with risk if your location takes some of it out of the equation why wouldn't you? But I realize it's not always that easy for people to uproot themselves, so I'll look forward to watching and seeing what smart DC company could prove me wrong.

Coming up later: Photos and videos from my trip to DC! If you have some and haven't sent them please email me at sarah at sarahlacy dot com!

Thanks again everyone who made the first stop of my tour completely unforgettable. It's definitely a high bar for everyone else!!

Comments

[Peter Corbett]

It goes without saying, but YOU ROCK.

The DC 'scene' needs this feedback sooo badly as it's hard for us to see ourselves from an outside perspective.

There's a lot of coverage following the event and you can find pics, vids, blog posts etc. here:

http://www.istrategylabs.com/twin-tech-recap-and-future-events/

Favorite pic is here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corbett3000/2684366510/sizes/l/in/set-72157606263834508/

See you soon...or at SXSW at least.

Peter

[Dave Weinberg]

Sarah,

Your feedback of DC is spot on. The more events I go here, to the more I see people who love the area and are committed to making this a powerhouse of tech. Angel investors are open to helping the locals, but VC aren't yet dolling out money like out west. Things can be less stressful here, so many of us are careful with our work-life balance, making success perhaps more achievable.

We hope you'll return soon! Peter and I would be glad to show off GeniusRocket's new offices to you anytime. So far, your book is great!

[Jared Goralnick]

It was really great meeting you and I thoroughly enjoyed our debates. I think you've got some great perspective on the draws of the major cities, and hope that you're right about DC's tech culture. As you mentioned and Peter echoed, there's a heck of a lot going on here.

You're welcome back here anytime, and thanks again for making DC the first leg of your trip!

By the way, here are some photos from the dinner:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancingwithwords/tags/sarahlacydinner