The Disappearance & Re-emergence of the Pittsburgh Startup Scene
The question rang out like a deafening boom in the middle of a heavy thunderstorm. And unlike most storms, I wasn’t ready for this one:
What happened to the Pittsburgh startup scene?
There I stood, figuratively getting soaked — fully understanding the need for the question, but not quite having the cunning ability to spin up an answer that would satisfy the small group I was speaking with. After a slight hesitation, I danced around the question, tied in a random reference or two and preemptively shut the door so that I’d never hear that question again.
However, it was too late. The question had been asked.
What DID happen to the Pittsburgh startup scene? And why was there a need to ask that specific question now?
If you ask any longstanding member of the startup ecosystem in our city, many would tell you that the only noticeable change has been one of growth. It seems as if every year brings a new resource to the table — from introducing new university programs, developing a network of coworking facilities, and even significantly increasing the amount of independent educational events across the region. The view from the 1,000 ft. tower looks healthy and the community is positioning itself to become better over the long haul.
In spite of that, one could argue that there has been a substantial atmospheric change in our ecosystem for the worse. If you turn back the clock to a few short years ago, the grassroots community had a palpable electric charge to it. From the beginning of 2013 to the end of 2014, we experienced a perfect storm that brought skill, energy, intelligence, grit, and social capital together.
Everywhere you turned, something was developing. Startup Weekends were being rolled out, on average, every 4–6 months. Speaker series were popping up and becoming natural discussion centers for the community members. And even best of all, it appeared as if everyone had a project or issue they were trying to solve. On the surface, the community was navigating the high seas of entrepreneurship. It felt strong, electric, and although the colony was small — we felt unified.
As with anything in life, when you are able to experience a highest of highs, you’re ultimately going to fall back down - with Pittsburgh doing just that.
Following the end of 2014, the energy began to decrease. The weekly events turned into monthly events (sometimes yearly), the dozen or so community leaders that carried most of the planning weight couldn’t avoid burnout, and the resources available were overtaxed with requests. And due to the compacted success within that time span, we also began to lose core community individuals to bigger and better career opportunities in other cities. Over time, the electric charge had vanished and the air was completely removed from the community itself.
At this point, it would’ve been easy to call it a day, pack it up, and reminisce over the “good times” that we had. But while Pittsburgh fell back to earth, something amazing happened. The amount of light we produced in that two year window began to catch the eye of other resources on a national scale. Instead of the dark steel town that many outsiders viewed Pittsburgh as, they saw the potential of what it could become, often citing our ability to maximize the few resources we did have to create noticeable results.
Soon after, the storm winds began to swirl again, but this time bringing an unprecedented level of progress. Foundations of new resources for the community began to spring up or take shape. As for the dozen community leaders? They each went their separate ways and leveraged their efforts to create new pillars such as Thrival Festival, Code & Supply, TechShop Pittsburgh, Academy Pittsburgh, Beauty Shoppe, and Alloy 26 — to name a few. Newcomers began to invest vast amounts of capital just to have bases in the city of Pittsburgh (Industrious, Coterie, Level Offices). And when you paired the light with the progression of local universities, it began to attract technology giants (such as Google, Facebook, Uber, and Amazon) to feed on what we were able to produce.
In a two and a half year span (2015 to present day) following the miniature golden bolt era, the Pittsburgh Startup ecosystem went from a small colony traveling in uncharted waters to a structured and hearty outpost.
So… what happened to the Pittsburgh startup scene?
We evolved… for the better.
Look, we can all acknowledge that the once harnessed explosive unified atmosphere that surrounded the community is no longer present. In fact, it is very possible that we will never see a return to those energy levels. With that said, the disappearance of said atmosphere should never be viewed as a negative. Rather, we should be thankful that the perfect storm was able to live and breathe and act as one of the first dominos in series of hundreds (if not thousands) that will ultimately lead to a better Pittsburgh.
It would also be naive of anyone to call Pittsburgh perfect. Like any growing system, we have our fair share of unresolved issues and limitations that hamper our progress. In the grand scheme of things, it is far easier to direct our anger and bitterness towards the results we haven’t achieved or the wins we haven’t produced instead of fully comprehending the accomplishments we’ve made to get to this point. But make no mistake in judgment — our region has reached the highest level we’ve ever seen. And the best part of it all? We’re just getting started.
Therefore, be patient Pittsburgh. Our community may not feel the same, but the Pittsburgh startup scene is stronger than ever.
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