An increasing number of cities, often led by entrepreneurial mayors, are thinking and acting like startups. The qualities that make a startup company and a city successful, are "remarkably similar".
"[T]he ingredients for a successful startup and a successful city are remarkably similar. You need to build stuff that people want. You need to attract quality talent. You have to have enough capital to get your fledgling ideas to a point of sustainability. And you need to create a world-class culture that not only attracts the best possible people, but encourages them to stick around even when things aren't going so great," writes author Jon Bischke, an advisor to several startups.
"As we roll into an election year, many cities are in a state of crisis. Budgets are a mess and job growth has been minimal for a good swath of the country. Cities in need don't just need strong leadership, they require transformational leadership. It's no easy feat but it's likely that the more that mayors view their cities through an entrepreneurial lens, the better they will be able to adapt to a rapidly-changing world."
Jon Bischke discusses examples from Cornell's recent bid to build a tech campus on Roosevelt Island, and efforts in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley and Connecticut.
FULL STORY: A City Is A Startup: The Rise Of The Mayor-Entrepreneur
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research