Brad Feld

Back to Blog

A Scorecard For Boston’s Innovation Economy

Jan 26, 2010
Category Books

Over the past eighteen months I’ve gotten to know Bill Warner through my work with the Boston program of TechStars.  Bill was a well known entrepreneur when I lived in Boston between 1983 and 1995 – he’d founded Avid which is one of the famous MIT software companies to come out of the 1980’s and the subsequently founded Wildfire Communications with Rich Miner, now of Google Ventures and another great entrepreneur in Boston that I’ve gotten to know over the past year.

When I met Bill I was captivated by his deep desire to see the Boston entrepreneurial scene – especially around software and Internet – get re-energized.  He was clear that the history of Boston was rich with entrepreneurial success and was sick of all of the anti-Boston bias coming from folks, especially on the west coast.  I’ve watched Bill step up and take a huge leadership role in this effort and in one short year see it paying dividends already.

Yesterday, Bill wrote two great blog posts that should be required reading for anyone in the tech economy in Massachusetts and anyone in a city that aspires to have a long term growing innovation economy. 

  • It’s About Leadership: A Proposed Scorecard for Massachusetts Technology Companies
  • It’s About New Behaviors: A Proposed Playbook for Massachusetts Technology Companies

I encourage you to go read them and then have dessert with Scott Kirsner’s article You can’t tell how the innovation economy is doing without a scorecard.  These guys just get it and are doing great things for the Boston innovation economy.

And – while you are thinking about entrepreneurial communities, take a look at the new article in the Fast Company series titled Why You Should Start a Company in… SeattleAndy Sack, an long time entrepreneur, partner in Founders Co-op as well as the Managing Director of the TechStars Seattle program, has a great interview up.

But wait, even though I’m not announcing a new tablet computer, there’s more – this time in Boulder.  Andrew Hyde announced Project Boulder Connect, a new initiative he’s putting together for a variety of user groups in Boulder.

It’s time to hop in the shower and then head over to do Community Hours at the Bunker.