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Techstars to open up shop in Detroit

crainsdetroit.com

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Re: Techstars to open up shop in Detroit

#41

Post by ryanmarsh »

jusben1369 wrote: post #31
ryanmarsh wrote: post #29

As a Houstonion this gives me pause. Houston is a massive economic center by nearly every measure. It is also home to the most diverse county and university in the US. There are large successful technology companies here. Yet, Detroit and Dallas (arch enemy of Houston) are getting TechStars before us. Part of the reason we don't attract accelerators like TechStars is the lack of a healthy startup ecosystem. I am NOT…

I guess the question is what makes for a good techhub/incubator. It seems to me embracing of a counter culture lifestyle is the key early differentiator. Certainly the Bay Area once had that. Austin. Seattle. Even Durham NC where I'm based now and is having a (relative) boom rose out of abandoned tobacco warehouses that could afford to support all types of people. I haven't been there in 8 years but I hear Detroit ha…

Oddly Houston has always been a wildcatter's town. People come here specifically to make money. I promise they're not here for the climate. People here are more entreprenurial than other places I've lived. People here have their own style of counter culture that more resembles a lack of f*s to give. Texans feel like they can do whatever they want. You'd think that would be great for business, and it is, the state and specifically Houston have done great during the recession. However tech just lags here.

Re: Techstars to open up shop in Detroit

#42

Post by vnchr »

rezistik wrote: post #24
marksc wrote: post #20

This is great news! Though, I'm surprised they aren't coming to Ann Arbor- the real startup hub of Michigan.

I live in Ann Arbor, and I've worked at a start up in Detroit, in what world is Ann Arbor the start up hub? Detroit has far more start ups and venture capital firms...mostly owned/invested in by Quicken but the point stands.

It might be an awareness issue. A2 has had a startup scene longer than Detroit. I was in QL's Bizdom accelerator in 2008-09, and there was no VC or startup scene to speak of. UMich has been spinning out tech startups regularly for a decade. The two ecosystems exist siloed from each other, but I think Detroit is a better choice since A2 startups can flock there and there is a faster growing community from what I can tell.

Re: Techstars to open up shop in Detroit

#43

Post by ryanmarsh »

bluedino wrote: post #34
jusben1369 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess the question is what makes for a good techhub/incubator. It seems to me embracing of a counter culture lifestyle is the key early differentiator. Certainly the Bay Area once had that. Austin. Seattle. Even Durham NC where I'm based now and is having a (relative) boom rose out of abandoned tobacco warehouses that could afford to support all types of people. I haven't been there in 8 years but I hear Detroit ha…

One thing that San Francisco has that somewhere like Detroit doesn't, is the affluent residents with the ability to sustain a service like Uber or startups such as food delivery. Those kind of services are viable to create a startup focused on in SF but not in Detroit.

The valley and SF also have VC with vision when it comes to software.

VC here are willing to fund a liar standing next to a hole in the ground, but lax to fund a software venture.

Re: Techstars to open up shop in Detroit

#44

Post by akgerber »

GFK_of_xmaspast wrote: post #37
bluedino wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing that San Francisco has that somewhere like Detroit doesn't, is the affluent residents with the ability to sustain a service like Uber or startups such as food delivery. Those kind of services are viable to create a startup focused on in SF but not in Detroit.

I've been told that the suburbs immediately outside Detroit city limits are rich as Croesus.

Not quite. Here's a huge house right off a lakefront park in just such a rich suburb: http://www.trulia.com/property/3172627452-736-Bedford-Rd-Gro...

You could buy two of them for the monthly cost of a nice 1-bedroom in SF.

Re: Techstars to open up shop in Detroit

#45

Post by yeldarb »

ryanmarsh wrote: post #29

As a Houstonion this gives me pause. Houston is a massive economic center by nearly every measure. It is also home to the most diverse county and university in the US. There are large successful technology companies here. Yet, Detroit and Dallas (arch enemy of Houston) are getting TechStars before us. Part of the reason we don't attract accelerators like TechStars is the lack of a healthy startup ecosystem. I am NOT…

I lived in Houston for 6 months a few years ago while my girlfriend was student teaching there. It was so foreign to me that I couldn't find any semblance of a startup community in such a large city.

Re: Techstars to open up shop in Detroit

#46

Post by phkahler »

GFK_of_xmaspast wrote: post #37
bluedino wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing that San Francisco has that somewhere like Detroit doesn't, is the affluent residents with the ability to sustain a service like Uber or startups such as food delivery. Those kind of services are viable to create a startup focused on in SF but not in Detroit.

I've been told that the suburbs immediately outside Detroit city limits are rich as Croesus.

>> I've been told that the suburbs immediately outside Detroit city limits are rich as Croesus.

Yup. Oakland County was once the 4th richest county in the US. Michigan leads the nation in families with second homes. Everyone around here has a second home (cottage, cabin, etc) on a lake from 1-3 hour drive away. OK, not everyone. Part of it is that there are so many lakes that they're relatively cheap. I even knew a guy who bought an entire lake - property was like 100 acres and lake was within that. This cost him less than a two bedroom place in SF.

Re: Techstars to open up shop in Detroit

#47

Post by saryant »

yeldarb wrote: post #45
ryanmarsh wrote: post #29

As a Houstonion this gives me pause. Houston is a massive economic center by nearly every measure. It is also home to the most diverse county and university in the US. There are large successful technology companies here. Yet, Detroit and Dallas (arch enemy of Houston) are getting TechStars before us. Part of the reason we don't attract accelerators like TechStars is the lack of a healthy startup ecosystem. I am NOT…

I lived in Houston for 6 months a few years ago while my girlfriend was student teaching there. It was so foreign to me that I couldn't find any semblance of a startup community in such a large city.

It's there, but it's not young and it's not the sort of tech that you see in SV. If you want to talk to startups building oil pipeline monitoring or healthcare software, it's the place.

Re: Techstars to open up shop in Detroit

#48

Post by davidw »

ryanmarsh wrote: post #29

As a Houstonion this gives me pause. Houston is a massive economic center by nearly every measure. It is also home to the most diverse county and university in the US. There are large successful technology companies here. Yet, Detroit and Dallas (arch enemy of Houston) are getting TechStars before us. Part of the reason we don't attract accelerators like TechStars is the lack of a healthy startup ecosystem. I am NOT…

FlightAware is in Houston, apparently.

Re: Techstars to open up shop in Detroit

#49

Post by yesimahuman »

phkahler wrote: post #39
yesimahuman wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While YC is a wonderful program, I think it'd be nice to give some props and support to programs like TechStars that are actively expanding and supporting startup cities outside of the valley.

I completely agree. It's just that YC kinda has a reputation as being #1 at least for the kinds of startups they do. Either way, Detroit (or the Detroit area) has been overlooked IMHO and this is still a great thing to see.

Yep, I would love to see YC expand beyond the valley (drawing a bit on their east-coast past), though I can't blame them for focusing there.

Re: Techstars to open up shop in Detroit

#50

Post by 7Figures2Commas »

ryanmarsh wrote: post #29

As a Houstonion this gives me pause. Houston is a massive economic center by nearly every measure. It is also home to the most diverse county and university in the US. There are large successful technology companies here. Yet, Detroit and Dallas (arch enemy of Houston) are getting TechStars before us. Part of the reason we don't attract accelerators like TechStars is the lack of a healthy startup ecosystem. I am NOT…

> Part of the reason we don't attract accelerators like TechStars is the lack of a healthy startup ecosystem.

As an entrepreneur, you do not need a "healthy startup ecosystem" to build a successful company. Let me repeat: as an entrepreneur, you do not need a "healthy startup ecosystem" to build a successful company. If you have a great product or service and are willing to make the effort to get in front of customers, you can build a successful company anywhere. Starting today.

I won't argue that the things that come with a "healthy startup ecosystem" (accelerators, venture capital firms, etc.) can't be helpful, particularly to certain kinds of entrepreneurs chasing certain kinds of opportunities, but as a general rule, the people who are going to build successful companies aren't waiting for their cities to become startup hubs. It's simply irrelevant to their ability to execute.

> If your tech isn't energy related it won't hit the radar.

Any entrepreneur in any industry passively waiting to "hit the radar" is going to be disappointed. If you want attention from customers, investors, media, etc., you almost always have to go out and get it. Ironically, this is even more true in the Bay Area because there are so many companies and there is so much noise.

> The technology startup successes I've seen in my 30 or so years here were built inspite of a (nonexistent) local startup ecosystem.

Even in Silicon Valley, which has the "startup ecosystem" that is the envy of the world, most startups fail. You just don't see the graves because they're covered by the latest batch of startups.

> Lastly, 9 out of 10 great people I've worked with here have left to go places with more tech opportunity. The talent is voting with its feet.

While it's easy to get the impression otherwise, lots of people come and go in the Bay Area too. Just because this is the tech capital of the world doesn't mean the grass is greener for everyone.

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