Boston's Startup Scene is Starting To Be Seen
Nearly three years ago, tech journalist Scott Kirsner wrote a blistering indictment of the Boston startup scene, titled "Can the Bay State Still Make the Big Time?" Suffice to say, he wasn't optimistic. Kirsner expressed particular concern with Boston's inability to produce "pillar companies" that “influence entire industries, attract talented people to Massachusetts and help retain recent college grads." He basically was yearning for the next Boston Scientific or Staples, but an IT version that could compete with the Cisco's and Google's of Silicon Valley. I agreed with Kirsner's diagnosis, but had a slightly different take on some of its underlying causes. For example, I wasn't sure that Boston's robust universities couldn't serve as adequate pillars. Moreover, Kirsner worried that Boston-area VCs were investing more in "products" than "companies" -- a malady that was hardly a local phenomenon (and is even less so today). Instead, I fretted about the lack of a local startup culture. Not just the timidity of many Route 128 investors, but the literal lack of forums/events where area entrepreneurs and investors could congregate (other than obligatory Christmas parties). Each new day was greeted with photos from some party in Silicon Valley the night before, while Boston entrepreneurs were lucky to run into someone at a bus stop on their way home.
