So Long, Boston, and Thanks for All the Robotic Fish

After 9 years working in Boston tech, I’m moving to NYC.

There’s plenty going right in Boston in the startup community, but let’s not sugarcoat it: After awhile, the flaws of Boston tech (defined here as internet-enabled companies) really start to wear you down. While NYC seems to relish in huge ideas, taking from-the-heels homerun swings, Boston seems to prefer singles and doubles. And instead of massive, story-driven brands that could change an entire industry, Boston is home to many product-focused companies who, sure, occupy a nice niche but mostly appease conservative VCs who miss the good-old days out on Route 128.

I could go on — I wish there was more consumer tech; I wish we retained more student talent; I wish for ONCE a “pillar company” in Boston referred to anything close to the Facebooks and Googles of Silicon Valley or the Etsys and Buzzfeeds of NYC.

Suffice to say: Boston Tech, you’re no New York.

… Just kidding :)

(That sound you hear is Boston Tech collectively gnawing on its laptops.)

In reality, my wife landed an amazing job in New York, and I couldn’t be more excited for her and our family as we start a new adventure.

However, if you live and work in Boston, you’d be forgiven in thinking all that negativity I just wrote was the real story. It’s all too familiar, and is something of an annual story published by anyone ranging from Scott Kirsner at the Boston Globe to the junior-level marketer just experiencing this town for the first time. And any time a Boston tech veteran announces they’re moving to another tech hub, it’s so darn easy to play that game we so love to play here: comparing ourselves to others.

It’s all we do! The criticisms from my fake (got that? fake) introduction above happen all the time. Most are self-perpetuated. Most are easy to disagree with. Some you might believe. Regardless, the fact remains:

Boston Tech’s identity is tied to comparing ourselves to others. And that has to stop.

As long as we discuss what Boston is or is not through comparison, we’re doomed to forever being “yet another X” or “a slightly worse Y.”

So as I depart this city for purely personal reasons (got that? personal), I’d like to take this opportunity to encourage everyone who remains to do something rather unthinkable in the face of all those rankings and comparisons: Concede.

Give in. Admit defeat.

Yes, we’re no Silicon Valley when it comes to mobile, consumer, social, and more.

True, Boston is bested by NYC in matters of media, entertainment, ecomm, ad tech, and the general branding of businesses.

Concede.

Stop playing that stupid comparison game, so that we can start playing a game of our own making.

Fine, we’re not them. So what are we? Or, said BETTER: in what are we BEST?

Let’s identify that. Let’s use that. Let’s be confident in that.

What if Boston tech branded itself not reactively, but proactively, with a self-assured, self-perpetuating, overtly stated identity?

STAKE YOUR CLAIM, BOSTON

In his book Town Inc, my friend and mentor Andrew Davis talks about the power of locations that “stake a claim.”

In researching the book, he visited more than 50 cities over three years, and he noticed that the most economically sound and fastest-growing communities articulated a distinct identity to others and themselves.

Warsaw, Indiana is the Orthopedic Capital of the World.

Detroit, Michigan, is reimagining itself as the country’s best city for luxury goods manufacturing.

Muscle Shoals, Alabama, proudly brands itself the Hit Record Capital of the World.

In these and other locations with a “claim,” business leaders will proactively market and perpetuate their location’s identity because it helps them grow their own businesses. Government officials find ways to promote it too, because it strengthens the community, creating a sense of loyalty and duty. In short, staking a claim helps a location attract and retain top talent and companies.

“In this kind of world, where we can work anywhere and live anywhere, how can we convince people to move to or invest in our towns?” Davis asks. “We have to create a reason to be there. The key is to stake a unique claim that will be easy for local visionaries, business owners, and citizens to embrace and to market across the country and around the world.”

Create some location envy in those who aren’t here because they yearn to be a part of the sectors, trends, and teams that are.

So, Boston Tech. Stake your claim.

BOSTON TECH: BEST IN ______

This “claim” is not for me to decide, but maybe I can start the conversation. I’ve been so fortune to have spent my 9 years in Boston working across various stages of company growth:

• I started at a global giant with a local presence (Google)
• I moved to a small, scrappy upstart trying to find its way from the bottom (Breaktime Media, then called Dailybreak)
• I witnessed a rapidly scaling company en route to being a Boston pillar (HubSpot)
• And finally, at a seed-stage VC, I experienced the other side of the table and saw the tech community from a bird’s-eye view (NextView)

Along the way, I absorbed so much about what makes Boston tech great.

The city is globally known for being a leader in healthcare, biotech, academia, and robotics. Today, trends in internet technologies are melding together with those well-established areas locally. (This spans both B2C and B2B and includes technologies and approaches ranging from machine learning to AI to SaaS to cybersecurity to video tech to sports analytics, and much more.)

Meanwhile, the people of Boston tech execute in practical ways, almost to a fault. But this near-fault causes us to emphasize professional education. Companies place a premium on learning your craft inside and out. We may not try the big homerun swings enough (a solvable issue), but we have foundational skills in spades. We give our young employees the best possible beginning to thrive longer term.

Additionally, Boston’s role in our nation’s past continues to echo into the present. Whether during our independence or by championing global democracy (past, present, and future), Boston is a political and historical influence on the US and the world.

So, what are we working with here? Breakthroughs in scientific and academic arenas. A focus on solving meaningful problems for our customers and imparting meaningful skills to our employees. And an origin story rooted in the very birth of this country.

And in what are we BEST? Germinating powerful new ideas. Teaching transformative new skills. And, yes, even rallying for revolutions, both figurative and literal. (Few cities can say that.)

Boston provides the foundation and the lab. It’s a place to think, tinker, learn, and launch. It’s the best place to start.

If you want to build a sturdy career or an unassailable company, start here.

If you want to cut your teeth or learn your craft to be able to do big things, start here.

We embrace the early. We relish in the raw. And we operate in the ugly. Even those notable companies Boston lost — Facebook, Reddit, Dropbox, and others— should be celebrated. They started here, and we take pride in the starting of things.

Boston tech is already a special place to work and live, but it has a chance to be something even more: SOMETHING.

Right now, that SOMETHING is missing. Sensed by some, spoken by none, the community without a clear identity. That needs to change. It has to be big. Different. Authentic. OURS.

Imagine if we embraced what Boston really is: a Petri dish. Boston is one part science, one part magic.

If we could only love that which we’re best at, instead of lament what or who we’re not, a funny thing might happen: People would come here to start … and wind up staying.

Boston: The Incubator for the World.

Jay Acunzo is the co-creator of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Boston Tech. He is a keynote speaker and host of the weekly podcast, Unthinkable, a show about people in business who become exceptions to the rules. After 3 years as VP of Platform for NextView Ventures, he is now the Creative in Residence at the firm. He moves to NYC in July 2017.

Drop him a line at jay@unthinkable.fm or say hi on Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, or LinkedIn.