West Oakland Is For Startups

What the hell

There is a gigantic poster of an infographic called Boulder Is For Startups at the Techstars Boulder office:

As I stared at that poster every day for three months, I gradually realized that Boulder really is for startups, even though it really shouldn’t be. A bunch of people got together and made it for startups.

Of course, I began thinking of West Oakland, and how there’s not a single startup there, despite mind-boggling proximity to the Mission, SOMA, downtown SF, and downtown Oakland.

My family (wife + 3 kids) have lived in West Oakland for seven years, in an 1881 Victorian. Our house has been through a lot. The couple who we bought it from saved it from demolition. It stood with a gigantic hole in the roof for ten years. I found this while digging in the back yard the other day:

In 2006 and 2007 I heard gunshots almost every night. In January 2010 a young man was shot to death across the street from our house — I heard the shots and the car speeding away, and then saw him die.

We survived the housing crisis and the foreclosuregate. Just a few years ago our house was 80% underwater.

But it’s done now, it’s time to move on yo.

Startups are like mushrooms — they need mycelium to grow. Other startups, coffee, bars, food. It sounds like normal stuff, but it doesn’t exist in West Oakland. Brown Sugar Kitchen and B-Side BBQ, while very good, are standalone oases. Revolution Cafe is a dump (I maintain its website and started the FB page, but I won’t renew the domain next year). There’s not a single bar. And no startups.

So, we planted Kato HQ in West Oakland, near the BART station. It’s cheap and sunny. We have water, electricity, and pretty fast internet. I’m growing an avocado tree.

If you’ve ever passed by the West Oakland BART station and wondered how something so forlorn could be so close to the SF Ferry Building, and how long could it possibly stay this shitty, I’m telling you: it’s time. Come be our startup neighbors. What the hell.