Seattle’s Social TECH Entrepreneurship Opportunity

An idea for a new socially conscious web design firm that can cement Seattle as the world’s capital of social tech entrepreneurship

When it comes to social entrepreneurship (social betterment/ philanthropy — NOT social media), there is Silicon Valley, London, and Singapore — among others — but there is no clear established worldwide leader. Seattle has a real opportunity to be the social tech entrepreneurship capital of the US — or world — due to its unique mix of technology and social good.

On the social entrepreneurship side, Seattle is an emerging leader thanks to the work of individuals such as Kushal Chakrabarti, organizations like Gates Foundation and Global Partnerships, accelerator programs like Fledge, and communities such as HUB Seattle, Ashoka, and Social Entrepreneurship Club at UW. The tech startup community has behemoths like Microsoft, Amazon, and Expedia, established home runs in the making like Zillow, and up and comers such as Tableau.

It’s clear the mix of social entrepreneurship and tech is alive and well in the city.

For those looking to figure out how to catapult Seattle into a social tech entrepreneurship thought leadership position on a worldwide stage, here is an idea to consider.

A socially conscious web design and development firm devoted to spreading the Seattle social tech entrepreneurship brand far and wide — “Designed In Seattle”

Think web design (Digital Commission) and development (Foundry Interactive / Fresh Consulting) with a great mentor & advisor network sprinkled on top, a Code Fellows like dynamic nurturing young design and development talent — and throw a dose of TOMS Shoes’ mission on top.

Here’s what I envision in terms of a “Designed in Seattle” (it could be named anything, but it seems “Seattle” should be in the name somehow) web design and development firm:

• Actual design and development done by those learning their craft — high schoolers, college students from UW design and engineering programs, or initiatives such as Code Fellows.
• Proceeds, or some portion of them, go towards initiatives focused on bringing more entrepreneurial talent into Seattle, or funding the educational programs that our future leaders are going through.Or even funding programs such as CodeRise.
• A experienced team of advisors to ensure the quality remains high — providing in depth mentorship in the process.

Why does this approach make sense for Seattle stakeholders to get behind?

1. City leaders — Every city in the world is looking to brand themselves as a strong tech startup scene. They are all looking to build strong communities with great talent. They are all looking to get their name associated with startups in front of as many people as possible — since every city in the world is in a global talent war.Seattle is no different.
2. Seattle tech executives — Additional resources and branding for the city of Seattle to help recruit more great talent to this area.
3. Aspiring designers and developers — The best way to learn to code (or any craft) is to do real work with real money and stakeholders involved. Not work on make believe projects without real implications. Employers want to see real portfolios of work, and this gives them real world projects to work on beyond non profits.
4. Educators and Academic—Additional portfolio options for students and exposure to other social entrepreneurship thought leaders around the world.

An initiative like “Designed in Seattle”, which gives back to other initiatives that impact communities and people would be a great step toward putting Seattle into the worldwide social entrepreneurship eye.

For those entrenched in the Seattle scene, particularly the people at StartupSeattle, do you agree that this is the best way to gain mindshare for Seattle as a social tech entrepreneurship leader?