Comments on: Startup entrepreneurship and the soul of Washington DC

By: Technically Philly » Startup Roundup: D.C.’s startup soul offers lessons, DreamIT-backed SCVNGR growing strong, TicketLeap redesigns | Covering the Community of People Who Use Technology in Philadelphia.

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:32:10 +0000

[...] Startup Leader Founder Blake Jennelle writes long-form about Washington D.C.’s “startup soul,” after taking in the scene there earlier this month. There’s a lot for Philly to learn from [...]

By: Jameson Detweiler

Jameson Detweiler — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:06:36 +0000

Haha, looking forward to that chest-bump. Empowerment Group looks really cool.

Next time you're in Philly, let us know.

By: Blake Jennelle

Blake Jennelle — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:39:29 +0000

Brendan, this is exactly the kind of local intel I was hoping DC locals would share. Thanks so much.

In response to your note:
1. Universities- In Philly, entrepreneurship is common out of Penn and Drexel, something to celebrate. It's still not as mainstream as I hope it will become.
2. Finding a startup community - Good to know. In 2007 in Philly, the fact that entrepreneurs were so rare was actually a rallying point and helped to pull the community together. I wonder if that's happening at all there.
3. Incubators - Launchbox Digital must be a great development for DC. Having DreamIt Ventures start into Philly has really helped spur things along here.

Great talking to you the other day and thanks so much for leaving a comment.

By: Jameson Detweiler

Jameson Detweiler — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:06:36 +0000

Haha, looking forward to that chest-bump. Empowerment Group looks really cool.

Next time you're in Philly, let us know.

By: Blake Jennelle

Blake Jennelle — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:39:29 +0000

By: Brendan Somerville

Brendan Somerville — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:12:46 +0000

Blake, well-done bringing attention to the DC startup community and the driving forces behind a different entrepreneurialism than is seen in Philly.

I would like to provide the following observations about DC/entrepreneurship and their interesting relationship:

1. Many of DC's college students (I can speak most accurately about my home university, Georgetown as well as GW and American) are hindered by the government/institutional environment of DC. Entrepreneurialism is not embraced or channeled in the right direction in many of the businesses and organizations that students intern with, and professors tend to be products of these institutions.
2. With government, thinktanks, and lobbies dominating the scene, you have to really look to find the supportive startup community that exists in many other cities. It's there, and it's (slowly) growing.
3. Launchbox Digital, modeled after YCombinator, is a relatively new incubator that's doing well here in DC. This could be the catalyst, for something...

Once again, love your article. Keep up the good work

By: Blake Jennelle

Blake Jennelle — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:13:47 +0000

I'm nodding... I like the geographic analogy, Philly is somewhat of a blend of NYC and DC. I'm still struggling to get a handle on what exactly the soul of this city is. I'm not sure if that's because it doesn't have a dominant soul or because I haven't found it yet.

I agree that splintering among communities is a risk here. There's something natural about niches forming as an ecosystem grows, but I think we would benefit from more events and even groups that cut across traditional community lines.

Ignite Philly does this really well, and it seems like BarCamp is pretty good at this as well. Some of the larger PSL events like the Entrepreneur Expo and the summer BBQ do this (less the Founder Factory).

At the same time, we do have a lot of cross pollination and we should make sure to point that out too.

By: Gloria Bell

Gloria Bell — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:14:58 +0000

Reading this, one thing comes to mind – When we are considering Philadelphia's “entrepreneurial soul” it seems to lie in almost the same place as Philly does geographically. Somewhere right in the middle of NYC and DC. Personally, I think that is a very good thing. I agree completely that we can all learn from each other, New York and DC can learn as much from Philly as we can learn from them.
One observation from DC that I think is important is that the startup, tech and freelancers communities are well integrated. This is becoming a issue in Philly. So many individual groups have sprung up that allow us to strictly specialize and hone our crafts that we are losing continuity and are losing the sense of wide-spread community that is necessary to allow us all to grow. So the question I pose is how do we start re-connecting these individual groups back into a unified community?
Blake, I applaud you for initiating the outreach to allow us to learn. Let me know what I can do to help.

By: Blake Jennelle

Blake Jennelle — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:13:53 +0000

Awesome comment Stephen, it put a big smile on my face. Did you make it into Philly with this crazy storm? It feels like the apocalypse here now, with what seems like two feet of snow on the ground and more falling. If you're here, shoot me an email and I'll try to round up some of Philly's finest.

By: Stephen Douglass

Stephen Douglass — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:10:47 +0000

Blake, many thanks for making StartUp Scramble part of your DC startup experience. It was a pleasure to chill in person and killer job with the vids (compilation in production!).

Snow-doom pending, I'll try to position myself in the are tomorrow. If you and the crew are around Sunday, let's cooordinate schedules. Do you cage fight? Otherwise, we'll figure out another convenient time.

Jameson, looking forward to giving you an authentic broski chest-bump in person. Have you guys heard of The Empowerment Group? If not, check 'em out at http://www.empowerment-group.org/ -- digging their work.

Eat what you kill,
Stephen