I brought Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Arianna Huffington together to talk about what would make Boston a better home for startups and if we could ever surpass Silicon Valley. Here is an condensed version of that conversation, that took place Wednesday in South Boston, not far from the Innovation District: Leung: Arianna, you've been a digital revolutionary, and Mayor Walsh, Boston attracted more venture deals than Cambridge last year. How do we keep startups from moving away to the West Coast?
Walsh: We have to be continually creative and get other young people to engage in the conversation. That's been missing to some degree in Boston as a whole. Using Twitter and using Facebook, having the chats - that brings Boston to a whole new level. Young people are seeing that and are saying, "Wow, this is kind of a cool place to be."
In the short period I've been mayor in the city of Boston, there have been over 4,200 jobs that have been announced in the tech startup industry. We are out recruiting actively other companies and other businesses to start here in Boston.
Huffington: The Huffington Post, which was completely a digital player, embraced the best traditions of journalism, which was followed by the Pulitzer. The most interesting models of the future are hybrids, incorporating the best traditions, the best of the old, and the best of the new and constantly evolving. Leung: What would it take for our startups not just to be in downtown Boston or the South Boston Waterfront, but also Allston, East Boston, different parts like Roxbury?
Walsh: We are working on that right now. We are encouraging businesses to look at Dudley, look at Mattapan, and look at Hyde Park. Allston/Brighton will have startups because of Harvard and BU.
You mentioned Downtown Crossing. Downtown Crossing is not known for startups; however, there are companies that are signed to come to downtown. So you are already starting to see people move from the Innovation District, the Leather District. Leung: Arianna, you launched HuffPost, so you know how to grow a business, a huge business. How do you keep its identity? It's something Boston companies struggle with once they get big.
Huffington: That is particularly important because a big company [AOL] acquired HuffPost. Most mergers and acquisitions don't work because it's imperative to keep the DNA of what made that startup successful. This was part of our agreement before the acquisition, and it's really been honored, and it's been amazing.
HuffPost has been able to keep its DNA, the DNA of a startup, constantly evolving, a lot of young people being given a lot of opportunities. Learning from people who are digital natives, learning from 19- and 20-year-olds, is the mentality of a startup. We have been able to keep it at the center of HuffPost, even though now we may be a global company. Leung: One of the rubs against Boston is that we are not a fun city. What's your take on Boston as a fun city, and does that matter to a tech town?
Huffington: Innovative people create their own fun. They create their own tribes; they create whatever is fun for them, which is different for them. You can create your own fun. I mean if you can create your own business, you can create your own fun. Read the full interview on BostonGlobe.com.
Original Post By: http://ift.tt/1epcax2
Source : http://ift.tt/1epcax2
No comments:
Post a Comment