Does Boston Have A Tech Startup Vibe?

31.12.11 | 3 notes | googlestartupfacebooksilicon valleybostonnycfoursquareBostonSan FranciscoBay Areanetwork effectbabsonincubator

I’ve spent the last two weeks of 2011 on the West Coast, first in Juneau, Alaska, and second in the Bay Area. In Palo Alto and the neighboring towns, I saw the Google campus and the Google street view cars, passed many buildings that house major tech companies, such as Salesforce.com, and spoke to locals involved in major tech deals. What they seemed to say is that the Silicon Valley is the tech hub 1) because it’s where the money is (VC mecca?) and 2) people here are optimists that truly think they can change the world.

The way I see it from a macro perspective with very little background is that the major tech startups that have the benefit of a platform/network effect, such as Facebook and Google, are based here, whereas the burgeoning NYC startup scene is home to mostly software or application companies (Foursquare) that sit on top of Facebook or other networks, hence the network effect.

This made me wonder: where are the software and Web startups in Boston? We have amazing startups based in the Boston area like Zipcar, Constant Contact, Clover, Rue La La, and Living Proof, to name a few, but are we lacking when it comes to startups, specifically tech-based startups that aren’t hardware-based?

Boston has brains abound and access to money in Boston and New York but a need for a bit more risk appetite and confidence. I find people have a chip on their shoulders when Boston is compared to NYC and San Fran but there’s no need to compare. Boston is about four seasons, academia, and incubator labs. It’s about succeeding because of your passion and brain not your connections alone. I think the key is keeping innovators in Boston instead of losing them to NYC and the Silicon Valley.