DC’s Un-Incubator and a Call for Your Input
By Peter Corbett on January 15th, 2009
Posted in
Community Development, Innovation Design, Interactive Strategy
UPDATE: DC.gov has provided me with a list of vacant schools where we can create the ‘un-incubator’ discussed below!
A while back I wrote about DC’s plans for a tech incubator and solicited survey responses from the community so your input could be included in what the DC government is planning. Thank you to the hundred or so folks that provided input – the DC gov and the Washington DC Economic Partnership (WDCEP) heard you loud and clear.
In sum you said: “Yes a tech incubator is feasible in Washington DC and yes it’s in desperately needed!”
This project is gaining a head of steam and now I’ve been asked to do one more thing to try to push this over the edge – to get the ear of the Major and others in the city to move this from a study to a reality by finding out how many budding startups there are out there.
Included below is my plan for an “un-incubator” that could serve as the model for what would benefit all of DC tech:
We need your voice now:
Martin Ringlein
January 15th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
I love where you are trying to go with this, but I am fearful some of the numbers won’t work out. Just from running my own small business in DC, I know a lot of those little things like wi-fi, coffee pots and furniture add up and total in the tens of thousands of dollars; even if you go to Ikea.
I also wonder about these vacant spaces in DC (especially in SW). Many (I assume) are hundreds of thousands of dollars from being up to code. Also, will the DC Govt be on the hook for maintenance of the building and janitorial services? That alone can run thousands of dollars a month.
Why the rush? Why not get funding to help places like Affinity Labs out? Also, would there be an expectation that if I worked in the space I would *have* to donate my time/service/talent to the DC Government for ROI? I wonder how that exchange would work? There is a bit of a difference in saying you created what you’ve valued as millions of dollars in application as opposed to the DC government actually paying millions of dollars for applications which in themselves have no ROI.
I think when it comes to services like web applications, it might be as simple as supply and demand. The valuation is only on the price paid to acquire the deliverable. If the DC Gov only paid $20,000.00, the applications they got might only be worth $20,000.00. The simple fact that an over-priced agency would have charged millions of dollars to do the same, doesn’t mean the application is worth millions of dollars; it just means that *not* paying millions of dollars to an over-priced agency for applications that have no financial return was probably a good idea.
If I charge $400 for an umbrella and you go across the street and buy one for $2, you didn’t really get an ROI of $398 for simply crossing the street — you just didn’t waste unnecessary funds on something that was overpriced and only worth $2 to begin with.
admin
January 15th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
All great points. Let me address a few:
1) Re: maintenance, some of the spaces DC gov is already paying for…and maintaining empty buildings. Also, infrastructure (coffee pots etc.) and operations (janitorial etc.) would be paid for by DC.gov + other funding sources.
2) Rush? They been thinking about this for YEARS and perhaps the rush is the dozen or so talented people that have reached out to me over the past few months that are out of work, have great ideas and skills and just need guidance/support. That and DC has the opportunity to capitalize in a big way on the ‘tech president’ nature of the Obama administration – I met a guy at your holiday party who came to DC from SF because he liked the DC tech vibe. We need more of that. This will help. Also, Affinity Lab has been a part of this process with the DC gov all along and view themselves as a way to house – for a longer duration – the new companies that are created in this space.
3) There’s no expectation of donation of time/services to the DC Gov. It’s more like DC gov will say: “we’ve got a problem and here’s $20,000. you guys build the solution and if looks promising outside of just a dc.gov use, then we’ll help you sell it to other cities and get funding to blow it out further”.
4) Love your ROI analysis. The take away really is that the DC.gov’s money is OUR money and we absolutely must figure out smarter ways of using it. If funding the creation of $2 umbrellas that typically cost $400 is the way to do it great!
Please let other people know about this, Martin. The spirit behind this ‘un-incubator’ concept is that it would be built by all of us…rather than handed down from on high…
Martin Ringlein
January 15th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Thanks for the follow-up Peter. I will definitely spread the word; I believe in what you are doing and hope it comes to fruition. DC really needs a central place for this talent drive social community — a HUB for innovation on the web.
Nick O'Neill
January 15th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
This is great stuff! Good job on pulling this together.
David James
January 15th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Thanks for throwing your weight behind this, Peter! Post holidays, I can throw some extra weight behind this myself!
corbett3000
January 15th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
@jobmatchbox has a good response to this post here: http://socialmatchbox.com/socialmatchbox/?p=86
Steve Cobb
January 15th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
We need more people like you in the DC tech community, Peter. Fantastic job and you have my support!
mmayernick
January 16th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
I’m really excited to see more activity on this front. Thanks for all your work, Peter. If there is anything I can do to help (beyond filling out the surveys), let me know!
Jared Goralnick
January 17th, 2009 at 2:25 am
Been meaning to stop by and applaud your work here, Peter. Thank you for sticking through and bringing this to the real world.
JessieX
January 17th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Ditto on Jared’s comment. I’m just so thrilled that you take ideas and move them into action, Peter. Again and again. Not only that, but I really dig the *kind* of ideas and vision you have. Count on my support.
corbett3000
January 17th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Thx all! Can you make sure to tell those who are budding startups about this post? There are currently 22 startups that say they need this kind of thing. That might seem like a lot but I have a feeling there are at least 50-75 in the DC area that do…