One asset of the Greater Boston Area is the flourishing startup community. Recent graduates, startup founders and the broad young professional demographic comprise a significant chunk of the Boston population. But there's not always cohesion among them, and that's something Mayor Marty Walsh wants to change.
In his State of the City address on Tuesday, Walsh announced the forthcoming creation of StartHub, a means of rallying the startup community to better promote, collaborate on, and network for the innovation economy. For this the mayor will designate a full-time manager to known colloquially as the "startup czar."
"In Boston, we know that a revolution only succeeds when it galvanizes the whole community," Walsh said in his address. "We need to support our local talent and spread opportunity widely. So this year we're launching StartHub, a regional program to unify and bolster our startups."
The more interactions or connection points that the city can have with the startup community, the better
City Hall envisions a regional network of people and events that also work in tandem with the other cities in Greater Boston, and draw in more prospects. Cambridge, Somerville, Quincy and Braintree, for example, have all been in contact with the City of Boston on how best to approach and carry out StartHub, as well as find the right person to be the inaugural startup czar.
"In New York City, there's virtually a startup event like everyday," the mayor's chief of staff, Dan Koh, told BostInno. "In Boston that community is growing. StartHub gives that a shot in the arm by launching a marketing campaign, a convener, an initiative to help promote all of our startups not just in Boston but the entire region."
He mentioned well-known tech companies like HubSpot and Google. Though their local bases are in Cambridge, they're considered Greater Boston staples as opposed to Cambridge-only businesses. But they're just two high-profile examples of what could constitute this community.
The startup czar will need to be someone who knows how to host large-scale events and networking sessions, and knows how to implement sound financial controls. Most importantly, though, they'll need to have an in-depth knowledge of the local startup landscape along with knowledge of the legislative process in City Hall and on Beacon Hill.
"It's a tough profile," added Koh. "The czar has to be the first contact in a one-stop-shop for anyone with a startup or is interested in having a startup."
For the job, which Koh said will be posted soon, they'll be looking both internally and externally for the right candidate.
Startups partnering with Boston
The news of StartHub coincided with the announcement of a municipal partnership that allows people to feed Boston parking meters using a mobile device. Now available to download on iOS and Android, ParkBoston is the second startup in January to announce a union with City Hall the first being TicketZen – a mobile platform to pay parking tickets.
Cultivating startups and providing resources are two major faces of StartHub, but it could also yield more alliances between them and the city. Koh said he'd love for more ParkBostons and TicketZens to team up with Boston offices—and StartHub will provide a bridge between the two.
For those startups able to get themselves off the ground, they could also benefit from the Roxbury Innovation Center. Housed inside the Bruce C. Bolling Building in Dudley Square, the Innovation Center will be a roughly 3,000-square foot incubator space run by The Venture Café Foundation. The foundation is no stranger to corralling startup personnel – it's their bread and butter, really – and its leadership experience will be crucial for the development those who set up shop in the Innovation Center.
"The more interactions or connection points that the city can have with the startup community," said Koh," the better."
