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Basically this.

there is a highly competitive atmosphere in this industry and flashy cars and other "toys" are a big part of that.

Actually, the exact opposite-- flashy cars are essentially the height of tackiness in the tech industry.

In any case, the greater DC area has a huge tech industry of its own, unique kind, but it's not the kind that's really conducive to a venture-backed startup model that has office space in DC proper. That's just what it is. There's a huge lack of repurposable office space that is unwanted by high-paying clients (something Boston/Cambridge/Somerville has/had in spades), and office space is grabbed up quickly by high-paying lobbying firms, law firms, corporate associations, and government agencies.

There's a niche for defense contracting and various forms of political organizing/social media companies that could exist. The former are always going to be located in the VA and MD suburbs, and the latter are going to be smaller-scale shoestring operations rather than multi-million-dollar companies.

More crucially, there's simply a lack of smart people in DC with a hardcore technology background. I mean, in all seriousness, why would they come here when they could go elsewhere? The personality type that ends up working for the defense contractors are precisely not those who are going to want to live and work in DC proper for a startup.

This whole series of "how do we build a tech sector in DC?" posts is ridiculous. More important is, "how do we encourage economic development beyond government, law, and lobbying?" and then whatever pops up in the city is something we should consider fostering further.

by JustMe on Jul 16, 2012 5:09 pm • link • report