Entrepreneurship, Innovation and the Global War for Talent

Innovation – “the process by which individuals and organizations generate new ideas and put them into practice” – has over the past two centuries been the bedrock of the United States’ economic growth and national competitiveness. From the energy to the computer industries, America’s innovative sectors have been the key drivers of the economy, raising living standards and improving workforce productivity.

Last year, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the Kauffman Foundation released the Global Innovation Policy Index and benchmarked the effectiveness of the innovation policies of 55 countries - including virtually all countries in the European Union, those in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India & China) among others. The Policy Index assessed nations based on seven core innovation policy areas: trade and foreign direct investment, science and R&D, domestic market competition, intellectual property rights, information technology, government procurement and high-skill immigration.

Based on the index, the United States placed in the top tier in every category except openness to high skill immigration.

As the competition for global innovation leadership intensifies, countries around the world are strengthening their innovation policy agenda to attract the world’s brightest and best. Just this month, Canada announced that it will roll out a startup visa that will encourage partnerships between foreign innovators and the Canadian investment community.

Singapore which has for long been ranked by the World Bank as the world’s easiest company to do business in has rapidly risen as a magnet for foreign entrepreneurs looking to establish their businesses attracted by provisions such as the EntrePass designed to facilitate the entry and stay of entrepreneurs.

Chile’s startup program, “Startup Chile” is well known for attracting early stage businesses to start their business in Chile with the ultimate goal of attracting world-class early stage entrepreneurs to start their businesses in Chile and converting Chile into a global innovation hub.

Staying competitive in the global economy will be determined by a myriad of factors; key of which is the global competition for talent. As the market for talent becomes more and more diffuse, smart policy should focus on attracting the world’s best to innovate and create the next game changing businesses.

Celebrating The Free and Open Internet

One year ago today, the internet community came together as never before. Users, entrepreneurs, policy experts, and activists united to defeat the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act. The downfall of SOPA and PIPA opened a new chapter in internet and technology-based activism and sent a resounding message to Washington: protect the free and open internet.

Today, we’re launching “Stop The Wall” a video that shows how Engine fought to stop SOPA and PIPA, and how we as a community succeeded through the dedication of so many engaged individuals across the United States who took the time to call their legislators.

With the new Congress, we aim to make startups and entrepreneurship a central priority for lawmakers -- beyond copyright. Patent, immigration, spectrum, data, and financial regulation will all be debated in the coming months. The Engine team expects to be at the fore of these debates, connecting our members to Washington and reminding policymakers that the internet is powering our economy.

The last year hasn’t been without its blows. The recent passing of Aaron Swartz is an immeasurable loss, foremost to his family and friends, and also to the internet’s collective voice. Demand Progress, Aaron’s organization with whom Engine collaborated during the SOPA/PIPA fight, is just one aspect of his important body of work, which touches everything from public policy, Creative Commons, Reddit, and RSS. As we celebrate our community’s efforts on January 18th last year, we also remember Aaron and strive to continue the work he devoted his life to.

Tonight, we’re gathering with members, friends, and fellow activists to celebrate the end of SOPA and PIPA. We will also reflect on the life, work, and spirit of Aaron Swartz.

His life demonstrates yet again the power of the internet to enable one voice to overcome a chorus of conventional wisdom. Aaron empowered many in the fight against a closed internet and obsolescent legal structures. Engine aims to continue this fight and to act as an agent of change in government.

Thank you for your commitment in 2012. The internet is, and will continue to be, better because of the work of people committed to our internet and our economy.

After CES: One More Thing About Patents

Startups are taking the lead in the debate on patent reform, but the nature of litigation is keeping too many victims silent. Settlements agreed to by startups often prevent information from coming out about the hardships faced by entrepreneurs.

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to sit on a panel at the Consumer Electronics Show with patent experts from groups including Google, EFF, and Newegg. A lot of ground was covered (find great roundups in Ars Technica and Forbes), but we ran out of time before addressing one of the most critical issues facing startups: the inability of many companies to discuss cases after settling.

Why is this big deal for startups? As moderator Marvin Ammori pointed out at the end of the session, his call for questions on Twitter was answered by a host of direct messages from entrepreneurs unable to discuss the terms of settlements made. This opacity prevents a truly comprehensive understanding of the damage wrought by entities abusing bad patents.

Not much can be done to combat the silence imposed by gag orders and NDAs, but
Congressman Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat, highlighted legislation during the panel that will help start the conversation on litigation reform in Congress. By decreasing the incentives to litigate, it is hoped that some of the thousands of annual patents suits may be prevented.

Startups can’t afford to be silent about the pain caused by the patent system. Engine is working to gather the stories of entrepreneurs to share with lawmakers. If you have a story to tell about the patent system, please reach out to me at edwardg@engine.is. Together we can change the way the patent system works.

Why Joining Engine Matters

Here’s a secret from a former Capitol Hill staffer -- it only takes about twenty phone calls about an issue to merit a briefing in a staff meeting. Just a handful more will get lawmakers to reconsider. Can you imagine how easy raising a round of funding would be if you only needed a hundred users?

Making laws is a cumbersome process, and changing them is nearly impossible. Whether you like it or not, lawmakers you may never have heard of -- and the decisions they make -- affect how you run your business. They have a say in how you use data generated from your users, payment processing, and hiring.

Thankfully, laws are written, tweaked, and sometimes completely overhauled based on the concerns of those who make their voices heard. While the lawmaking process might seem long, laborious, and as about as comprehensible as the reasoning behind the fiscal cliff, it really just comes down to constituents (DC-speak for users).

Take SOPA/PIPA for example, where constituents succeeded in making their voices heard. The technology community stopped the proposals, but we were forced to rally in the eleventh hour with our backs against the wall. Engine is changing that.

Engine is proactively involved in the lawmaking process, rather than just waiting to react. We get startups a seat at the table, ensuring you have a say about the laws that affect the way you run your business. We’re meeting with lawmakers, doing the research about startups’ impact, and building a community where you can contribute your opinions. But we can’t do that without your support.

I know what you’re thinking. I don’t have time, I am building a business, I’m not really political anyway. We understand that. We’re there when you need us, doing the legwork, and giving you the opportunity to educate the government about your business at the start of the conversation. Being a member of Engine means that you will know in advance when you need to be caller number twenty.

Startups Set the Stage for Patents at the FTC

The Federal Trade Commission held a workshop on patents on Monday, December 12, bringing together lawyers, academics, and industry experts to discuss issues surrounding patent litigation in the United States. Concern about startups drove the conversation at the workshop as the biggest losers in the increasingly litigious patent ecosystem, especially in presentations by Colleen Chien and Carl Shapiro.

Lawsuits filed by patent assertion entities (PAEs) -- companies that focus on buying patents for the purpose of litigation -- have increased 61 percent in 2011, according to Chien. Shapiro noted that large companies absorb the costs created by patent litigation, but that high costs for startups are emblematic of the potential harm to innovation created by PAE litigation.

As we’ve pointed out before, startups face steep costs when confronted with patent suits, especially compared to larger companies. Despite this fact, the discussion about patent litigation has centered on the battle over smartphone patents between companies like Apple, HTC, and Motorola.

We’re working to move startups to the center of the debate over patent litigation and patent reform. Reforms enacted last year in the America Invents Act provide some short-term fixes that can protect startups that have been sued. More steps are needed to protect entrepreneurs and innovation in the longer-term. At Engine, we encourage more discussions like the one the FTC held this week, bringing together stakeholders from across the ecosystem to learn from their expertise and experience.

Photo courtesy of Priya Deonarain. 

Tech America: The Spaces Where Entrepreneurs Start Up

If you’ve read Technology Works, the report commissioned by Engine Advocacy and published last Thursday, 6th December, you know the importance of startups and entrepreneurship in getting America’s economy back on track. Despite America’s status as a great place for businesses, launching a startup is a difficult task. Incubators and accelerators are organizations that make that process a bit easier, and are a crucial ingredient in the country’s future economic prosperity.

So where are these entrepreneurial instigators? No doubt you’ve heard about Y Combinator, Tech Stars, and other well-known programs. And we all know about the great things happening in Silicon Valley, Silicon Alley, and the hotspots of Austin, Texas or Boston, Massachusetts.
But you may be surprised to learn that incubators and accelerators, like the startups they support and cultivate, are all over the country - from Groundwork Labs in Durham, North Carolina and the Manoa Innovation Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, to UpTech, an accelerator located in Newport, Kentucky.

Some incubators are founded by technologists, like 8ninths in Seattle, Washington, while some are launched by universities, such as Ohio University’s Innovation Engine Accelerator. Still others are formed by major companies, like Microsoft, PayPal, and Qualcomm, who want to stimulate the next generation of technology leaders.

Back in September, with the help of Engine, the Ammori Group put together a map based on startup incubators and accelerators across the country. Our goal was to develop a way for entrepreneurs, incubator leaders, and policymakers - everyone, really - to see where the incubators are, to learn about what they’re doing, and to get involved.

If your incubator or accelerator isn’t on the map, let us know by submitting your information. If it is on the map, feel free to update your information and tell us about your experiences. And please, share this with your colleagues, friends, and anyone interested in seeing where innovation is happening in America today.

Luke Pelican is an associate at The Ammori Group

Technology Works for Startups and Our Economy

We are proud to announce the launch of Technology Works today, a study demonstrating the pervasive and important growth of the tech workforce across the United States. Engine is committed to tracking the close connection between innovation and entrepreneurship. This new research, which we commissioned from the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, demonstrates the connection between high tech employment and overall economic prosperity.

Today’s study is an expansion on the data visualization we launched during the party nominating conventions that illustrates the geographically diverse nature of technology hubs in the U.S.

More than ever, startups harness technology to achieve their goals. This means hiring more people with skills in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, the definitive factor in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ defintion of high tech industries. Tech-focused startups tend to start small and grow rapidly, becoming the drivers of overall employment.

It’s easy to highlight startup success stories: Google, Facebook, Pandora, Twitter, and Yelp are just a few of the relatively young, tech-based companies that employ thousands of workers. As we better understand the multiplicative effects of hiring at these companies -- and the startups that will follow in their footsteps -- the case for supporting innovative entrepreneurs becomes apparent.

Communities experience significant benefits from high tech employment. We are able to estimate that the creation of one high tech job accounts for the creation of 4.3 other jobs in a local economy. How does that work? Technology workers tend to earn more than their peers in other industries, which they put back into the local economy by consuming goods and services. Tech companies companies also rely on local services and vendors, further driving local benefits.

So while many Americans may never work for a company like Google or a technology-focused startup, they still benefit from the impact these jobs have in communities around the country. About two-thirds of the U.S. labor force works in local services, ranging from healthcare to legal services to restaurants. As Enrico Moretti, Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, said about the study, “the dynamism of the US high tech companies matters not just to scientists, software engineers, and stockholders, but to the community at large.”

Our research with BACEI makes it clear that the economy increasingly depends on innovation. Explosive job growth isn’t likely to come from the established internet giants. It will bloom from driven entrepreneurs making the most of the technologies at their fingertips. Engine is committed to continuing analyses of startups’ impact on the economy and we’re planning further compelling research in the near future.

Disagreeing Doesn’t Mean Disengaging

Uber’s recent win in Washington DC over taxi regulations has sparked some debate about the approach startups should take to dealing with government. Working with state, local, or federal government is never a perfect process, companies often rightly feel that revenue, consumer access, or effective competition are threatened by new laws or existing regulations. Whether a process involves clash or compromise, results aren’t guaranteed.

At Engine, we have worked with policymakers on proposals that impact startups’ businesses, like Startup Act 2.0, and have helped to stage wide-scale protests, as was the case in confronting SOPA/PIPA. Both approaches brought results, though not perfect solutions, and moved things in the right direction for the startup ecosystem.

No startup should hesitate from playing hardball by harnessing user-advocates who are passionate about their products if they think customers deserve to be heard. Nor should an entrepreneur shy away from engaging directly with government where discussion might improve policy. Personalities, politics, and ideas will clash whether they are trumpeted in the public square or discussed behind closed doors. We need more, not fewer people involved in the lawmaking process.

This phenomenon isn’t limited to startups. Disagreements public and private occur constantly in DC, Sacramento, Albany, and Des Moines, and involve some of the largest companies in the world. When AT&T sought approval to acquire T-Mobile, more than 40,000 public comments were filed with

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Engine is building tools that make it easy and effective for entrepreneurs to connect with and influence government. In the end,

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whether you work with Engine, call on your users to tweet support, or meet with a representative one-on-one, as an entrepreneur, you should feel empowered to engage with your government. Our stories and experiences matter and should help guide these debates. Startups working with government -- choosing to engage and doing so in an effective manner -- go beyond simply creating debate, they foster a stronger ecosystem for our businesses and our community to thrive.

Continuing the Conversation: A Roundtable on San Francisco, Prop E, and Technology

The move by San Franciscan voters to approve Proposition E earlier this month was something of a coup for the tech industry. This shift in tax policy aims to encourage hiring and new business development in the city and saw support from the mayor, tech companies, and leaders in the venture capital community. While the impact of the reform will be evaluated over the coming years, the coordination of the tech and startup community around this policy is an encouraging achievement.

The important question we face after the success of Prop E is how to keep the dialogue between government, citizens, and innovators moving forward?

Technology companies and other interested advocates including the San Francisco Citizens Initiative for Technology and Innovation (sf.citi) backed Prop E, arguing the reform would be a catalyst for job creation in San Francisco. A video released during election season by sf.citi highlighted the important role technology can play in improving local governance and day-to-day problems.

For years, licensing, policy, and regulation have pitted the tech industry against itself, seeing companies use government as a wedge against competitors. Working together with businesses and other stakeholders to address policy challenges will help our communities and country emerge stronger, more efficient, and more prosperous. The first step is coming together. Engine has been working in local communities across the country as well as here in the valley to make local startup policy a priority. We encourage you to join Engine to be part of future success stories in your own backyard.

Next Thursday, we are going to continue this conversation. Please consider joining Engine for a roundtable on technology, economic growth, and local policy at 10am December 6. For more information, email us at info@engine.is.

Photo courtesy of  MomentsForZen.

Tell Congress to Protect Startup Data

Today, Engine and a coalition of more than 20 organizations call on Congress to require law enforcement to secure a warrant before asking businesses turn over user data. Data plays an increasingly important role for startups. This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to vote on a proposal that would change the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) rules outlining how the government can access digital data.

ECPA was enacted in 1986 and is in need of an update. Innovations like cloud computing are available to businesses of all sizes and have changed the way data is stored and transmitted. The government must set clear due process protections -- such as securing a warrant -- to access consumer data through businesses.

Startups and other innovative companies leverage all sorts of data to make products better, ranging from location data to make map applications more accurate, to transaction information that prevents fraud. A lack of clarity under the current law imposes problems for companies.

Uncertainty about compliance increases legal costs that most startups are generally unprepared to take on. Also, giving up customer data can erode the trust of users. Receiving a complex legal request from the government for user data can put startups in a bind, forcing them to decide between absorbing unforeseen legal costs or alienating current and prospective users.

Engine has joined with a coalition of technology, industry, and civil liberties organizations to call on Congress to reform ECPA in order to create greater legal certainty around user data. Today is your chance to get involved by telling the Senate Judiciary Committee to make data, privacy, and due process a priority.

Click here to tell Congress that your digital data deserves the same protections as your mail and phone calls. You can also tweet at any or all of the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee listed below to tell them that protecting data matters to startups.

Chairman Patrick Leahy @SenatorLeahy

Ranking Member Charles Grassley @ChuckGrassley

Sen. Herb Kohl contact form

Sen. Dianne Feinstein @SenFeinstein

Sen. Orrin Hatch @Orrin Hatch

Sen. Chuck Schumer @ChuckSchumer

Sen. Jon Kyl @SenJonKyl

Sen. Dick Durbin @SenatorDurbin

Sen. Jeff Sessions @SenatorSessions

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse @SenWhitehouse

Sen. Lindsey Graham @GrahamBlog

Sen. Amy Klobuchar @amyklobuchar

Sen. John Cornyn @JohnCornyn

Sen. Al Franken @alfranken

Sen. Michael Lee @SenMikeLee

Sen. Christopher Coons @ChrisCoons

Sen. Tom Coburn @TomCoburn

Sen. Richard Blumenthal @SenBlumenthal

Startups Can’t ‘Give It A Rest’ on Software Patents

David Kappos, head of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, gave a presentation yesterday morning telling those claiming the patent system is broken to “give it a rest.”

Kappos approached the debate over software patents in context of smartphone lawsuits between large corporations like Apple and Samsung. He admonished detractors of the patent system to “get the facts.” Here at Engine, we’ve been following developments in the patent system closely; the fact is startups can’t afford to give it a rest under the current patent regime.

The economics are clear: startups fuel net job growth in the U.S. economy. Small, technology-focused businesses are developing innovative products and promoting competition. Software patents are a real challenge to young firms that don’t have the legal resources to defend themselves against non-practicing entities -- often called trolls -- that use patents for litigation instead of innovation.

A June paper from Boston University showed that patent trolls cost companies $29 billion in 2011 in direct costs from litigation. While large companies pay more of the overall settlement and legal costs, the expenses make up a greater share of smaller companies’ revenue, according to the research.

Last Friday, we attended a conference aimed at finding solutions to the software patent problem. Hosted by the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University Law School, lawyers, software engineers, and activists came together to discuss possible solutions. Legal, procedural, and economic ideas were floated, but investor Brad Burnham of Union Square Ventures made a critical point, saying that 25 percent of USV’s startups had been sued and that half had received demand letters. Suits like these don’t just cost companies revenue; they threaten the survival of startups and destroy jobs.

Policymakers like Kappos must recognize the existential threat bad patents pose to young companies. While he emphasized new review procedures available to PTO after passage of the America Invents Act, the fact is that the measures in place insufficiently protect small companies facing predatory patent suits. The last thing the startup community needs to do is to give software patents a rest. At Engine, our community aims to lead the discussion on how to move forward.

Picture courtesy of Alan Kotok.

Technology for Economic Progress

Nmachi Jidenma is an international development specialist passionate about using technology for development. She focuses on International Entrepreneurship at Engine. @nmachijidenma

Last week, I was at the Techonomy 2012 conference in Tucson, Arizona, where about 250 technology and business leaders gathered to explore how technology and innovation can accelerate progress in business and society. At the conference, various issues at the intersection of technology and the economy were explored in what proved to be an enriching, intellectual dialogue. From futurist Ray Kurzweil’s discourse on the merger of man and machine, to researcher Gordon Bell’s discussions on lifelogging and its impact on augmented memory, I left the conference with a stronger faith in technology’s role in improving society.

Among the various “techonomic” issues explored, what struck home for me was the impact a mobile world and big data can have in transforming economies in emerging regions of the world.

In recent years, the world has witnessed an explosion of data as billions of new devices connect to the Internet. By some estimates, in the past two years, ten times more data has been created than in all of human history. Though the privacy and security implications of this data remain issues of concern, its potential use cases are significant. When used for good, big data can be used to mine and model various social issues around the world from food shortages to the dynamics of global urbanization.

In regions like Africa, the impact can be tremendous. Already, the continent is experiencing paradigm-shifting growth. In the past decade, six of the world’s top ten fastest growing economies have been from Africa. With the current boom in mobile technology adoption, the potential of technology to enable the continent to leapfrog decades of economic progress and usher in prosperity for the populace is immense. From finance to healthcare, there is an opportunity to empower hundreds of millions of people through a confluence in the use of mobile technology and big data intelligence. The runaway success of M-Pesa in Kenya provides evidence of the sort of revolutionizing effect technology can have on emerging economies. The hope is that the next decade will usher in smarter governance through mobile data.

At the same time, the rising influence of robotics technology and its future impact on the face of unemployment and job growth both in the U.S. and abroad is of particular importance. As robotics ushers in more efficiency and just-in-time processes to a dynamic planet, how do these trends affect job growth domestically and internationally as well as the future of work? How do they affect the future of emerging regions of the world and their future roles in the global economy? How do they affect business processes such as outsourcing and the skill sets needed to compete in an increasingly automated world?

At Engine, these questions are important to us because they bring to the fore technology's important role in shaping the global economy. We are passionate about how things like mobile and big data can be used for good around the world, especially in emerging regions where technological progress can significantly fast track development. There is a unique opportunity for governments to use actionable information from data patterns to shape policy in a rapidly changing world. That way, we can build a smarter planet and a more prosperous future for all.

Why Open Wireless?

Wireless communication has fundamentally changed the way we use technology and do business. It’s easy to take for granted the ubiquitous nature of wireless services in the United States today, especially as LTE rolls out providing more robust options. The speed with which data-hungry devices are being adopted, teamed with a limited amount of available spectrum, has led to what some call a “spectrum crunch,” contributing to problems like dropped calls and stalled downloads as well as data caps and other pricing mechanisms aimed at limiting ever-growing data consumption.

In light of these issues, Engine has joined with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and 11 other groups to support the Open Wireless Movement, a coalition of advocates, companies, organizations, and technologists working to develop wireless technologies and to encourage internet openness. Strengthening the wireless ecosystem isn’t just about bad service on your iPhone or poaching your neighbor’s WiFi; effective, efficient, and secure wireless communication options will propel future innovation and economic growth.

The Open Wireless Movement is about more than wireless hotspots. It links service providers, businesses, and engineers to develop networks around the country that are free, secure, and reliable for everyone. By emphasizing the benefits of sharing, we aim to create new ways of thinking about the wireless ecosystem.

Now you might say, “The Federal Communications Commission is planning new spectrum auctions in the next few years. What’s the problem?”

Even with new blocks of spectrum up for auction, the demand for wireless data is projected to continue to grow rapidly. If we don’t change the way we approach spectrum through public policy and private deployment, we will limit opportunities for startups to create new products by harnessing wireless technologies.

Doing so will require not just forward-thinking policies, but a move toward open and shared technologies. Focusing on -- and increasing the success of -- unlicensed technologies like Bluetooth, WiFi, and RFID will be central to our success. These technologies have empowered innovators to experiment with and build low-cost, reliable devices and protocols that have led to the rise of successful segments of the technology ecosystem.

New auctions ought to continue the FCC’s track record of creating fair markets for commercial-use spectrum for wireless carriers. These auctions should increase their focus on access to spectrum for small and regional wireless companies that can push innovation in local communities.

We must also recognize that the use of auctions and unlicensed technologies is not a zero-sum game. WiFi and carrier-owned spectrum have proven to be exceptional complements. Moves to marginalize unlicensed spectrum allocations or artificially increase auction prices harm consumers, innovators, and businesses. Recommendations made by the White House in July that the federal government share some of its spectrum with commercial users may increase our access to the public resource, opening the door to even more technologies that will push innovation forward.

The Open Wireless Movement is one step in a broader rethink of how we access the internet. Engine is excited to be on board and we encourage you to read more about the project, learn how you can promote the cause, volunteer to help engineer new wireless solutions, or get updated on how to make your wireless network part of the movement.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

Don't Forget to Vote

After months of campaigning, political ads, and debate between candidates across the country, today is the day to vote. While at Engine we’ve been tackling issues and policies that affect startups, this is your opportunity to directly impact your local, state, and federal government.

How should you vote? And where? The Google Elections team has engineered a useful tool that helps you find your polling place, tells you what races will be on your ballot, and even links to candidates websites and social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google+. What if you're in California where propositions are up for a vote? Don’t worry! The referenda on your ballot are outlined too.

The first step to better government is increased voter participation. Whatever hand we as a country are dealt, Engine will work with policymakers to make sure the issues that affect startups are on the agenda -- but today is your day to get involved at the ballot box.

Join us after the elections to build stronger connections between new lawmakers and the startups growing the American economy. You can check out some of the issues confronting startups here. 

Startups Assist Sandy Recovery

As the federal government moves to assist communities affected by Hurricane Sandy, startups are lending a helping hand to their neighbors and one another as well. Mashable’s Zoe Fox today reported on entrepreneurs opening their offices to other companies and providing relief services to their communities.

Engine joined with New York Tech Meetup at the NYU Stern School of Business last week, where people gathered from many different corners of the New York startup community to discuss not just the upcoming election, but also a blueprint to turn moments of advocacy into a lasting movement of tech companies and allies working together on issues that affect our communities.

Disasters like Sandy have devastating consequences for families, individuals, and small businesses. The New York Tech Meetup team has put together a Google Survey taking requests for technology assistance in the wake of the storm.

The Engine team encourages you to spread the word. If you are looking for assistance or opportunities to give or volunteer on the Lower East Side, Redhook, Staten Island, or Astoria, consider using Recovers, an Engine member that coordinates disaster relief.

National Entrepreneurship Month

This morning, the White House declared November National Entrepreneurship month. The introduction of the Startup America Legislative Agenda and the JOBS Act, which was signed into law by President Obama in February, has demonstrated the focus of policymakers on Americans who build new businesses.

The American economy depends on startups. Creating an atmosphere where entrepreneurs take calculated risks, investors help young companies grow and thrive, and technology facilitates the emergence of new markets and products will help lead our country out of the economic slump.

For a year that began with SOPA, a dark moment for internet entrepreneurs, 2012 has been a very positive for those of us championing innovation and entrepreneurship. After beating back SOPA, a new, emboldened constituency of innovators sought to improve the business climate for entrepreneurship. To that end, many of us fought for and won passage of the JOBS Act and started an important conversation on Startup Act 2.0, which we hope will become law early in the next Congress.

Though this entire month is dedicated to American entrepreneurship, November 16th is reserved in particular to be National Entrepreneurship Day as a celebration of America’s innovative prospects. At Engine, we are pleased that the President and his administration have singled out the promise of entrepreneurship, and look forward to continuing to work with policymakers on both sides of the aisle to champion the cause of entrepreneurship.

Photo courtesy of Trevor McGoldrick.

Detroit: Startup City

Over the last two days, I’ve been hanging out with some of the brightest young minds in a growing startup community, talking about strategies for growth, ways to strengthen the local startup community, ways to connect different silos of entrepreneurs, and much more.

And the best part is I did it all in the shadow of the home of winners of the American League Pennant.

Reports of Detroit’s renaissance have been premature before. The Motor City has gotten a lot of bad press for decades in the wake of crime, unemployment, widespread poverty, and more. This visit, though, has made me optimistic about the future of the city. While the auto bailout has helped turn around the seemingly endless string of bad stories coming out of Southeastern Michigan, another part of the economy is adding jobs and building community.

Detroit has always been an entrepreneurial city. The United States has an auto industry because Henry Ford had an idea and revolutionized manufacturing here in Michigan. Today, startups are taking root in Downtown Detroit like never before.

I met many local entrepreneurs yesterday at the M@dison Building, across the street from Ford Field and Comerica Park, where we gathered for Brand Camp University run by Detroit Entrepreneur and Engine collaborator Hajj Flemings. Flemings also joined Engine in June for Startup Day on the Hill. Brand Camp was a day packed full of interesting chats with a diverse group of entrepreneurs including Brad Feld, Boulder’s venture capitalist extraordinaire, Startup America COO Kathleen Warner, content strategist C.C. Chapman, myself, and others. Through all of the presentations based on the theme of “Build, Innovate and Grow Detroit,” young Detroiters gained insights and asked really excellent questions about how to start businesses and contribute to the city’s success.

I also had the opportunity to meet with many of the next generation of Detroit entrepreneurs this morning at the Startup Ventures event on the city’s East Side. More than 175 high school students focused on science and technology gathered at the UAW-GM facility along the Detroit River for a wide-ranging discussion of entrepreneurship, the importance of education in STEM fields, building business in a strong Detroit, and more. It was a powerful experience to be surrounded by motivated young minds keen to learn, many of whom pitched me on some great business ideas.

Overall, I’m leaving Detroit tomorrow with one pervasive thought: that this city, so long on the brink, has a road back to prominence. And with entrepreneurs taking the lead in building a new, stronger Detroit, they’re in good hands along the way.

Photo Courtesy of Patricia Drury.

reroute/sf: a New Model for City-Startup Collaboration

This weekend Engine, along with the City of San Francisco and friends in the tech community, will co-host reroute/sf, a hackathon in which engineers, designers, and business minded folks will form teams to build technology that aims to improve transit in San Francisco.

When our team met with representatives from the City of San Francisco and the SFMTA eight months ago, our message was simple: let’s work together to find technological solutions to overcome the transit challenges affecting the city. Access to transit is important for growing businesses aiming to establish and keep their headquarters in San Francisco.

The problem? Finding a constructive way to address San Franciscans’ transit frustrations in a way that works within the City’s infrastructure and resource constraints. To avoid the pitfalls of similar attempts and ensure real change, a new approach had to be taken -- we had to work closely with the City and local civic organizations to engineer immediately applicable and actionable solutions.

Mark Wills, a designer at Hattery, came up with reroute/sf, a hackathon that uses technology to address problems that citizens and the City agree need to be fixed. We worked together with local officials to determine the core challenges that technology might be able to solve, and we have energized the technology community behind the potential to make their city a better place to live.

This weekend, we’re ready to open our doors for reroute/sf, with the hope that our friends who code, design, and pitch will deliver interesting and useful inventions to help improve our City. The SFMTA has committed to working with the winning teams to make their innovations real, and Google Maps has generously provided grants for the winners to support this collaborative work.

While we aspire to produce new transit technologies this weekend, we also hope for reroute/sf to be a model for future partnerships between the City and the startup community.

Put Your Mark on Our Innovation Map

A few weeks back, we posted the first version of a simple tool to connect startups to incubators and accelerators in their communities. Created in association with our friends Luke Pelican and Marvin Ammori, we’re aiming to build out the map further. We’re looking to you -- investors, mentors, and entrepreneurs -- to tell us where these innovation hubs are to better connect with entrepreneurs.

Startups are critical to economic growth and job creation. Connecting entrepreneurs to resources that will help grow their businesses will be critical to keep this trend going. By submitting information about your group, startups can more easily find the spaces that will help them thrive.

How does it work? Go fill out this survey and we’ll populate your information on our map (we’re a bit obsessed with maps lately). Before we do so, we’ll send a confirmation email to make sure you’re cool with being included. Then sit back and watch as your incubator or accelerator pops up on our map.

Simple, right? As adoption grows, we hope to build out and design this map into a more robust tool, but first we need the data from you to make it possible. So drop us a line and we’ll get back to you straight away. The country can’t wait for more startups to take off and you may be the group that mentors the next big startup success story.

At Austin Startup Week

I’m excited to be in Austin for Startup Week. I’m here to meet with local startups and key players in the startup community as well as to tell Austin’s story of entrepreneurial growth. Local hubs for tech and for entrepreneurship are dotted all across the country, and each one is vital to the continued growth of the American economy as a whole. Engine is partnering with local organizations committed to growing the startup community here in Austin, including the Austin Technology Council and the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

On Wednesday, I spoke to a group of about 50 local entrepreneurs on a panel titled “Policy vs. Pitch” outlining some of the issues on the horizon in which the startup community can have a voice. There was consensus that while entrepreneurs tend to and ought to prioritize building their product above participating in policymaking. Their participation through platforms like Engine will be crucial in moving debates and helping the startup community grow. Issues like immigration reform, STEM education, and patent were highlighted as leading concerns to which the startup community should lend its voice.

And yesterday, I spoke with representatives from three congressional offices on startup policy, along with local entrepreneurs Mitch Jacobson from Austin Technology Incubator and Eric Overton, chief executive of Focus Embedded. We discussed ideas for better high-skill immigration, small business growth and other issues as part of the Austin Chamber’s involvement with Startup Week. I’m particularly happy to have had the opportunity to discuss Startup Act 2.0, a great idea we’ve touched on here many times before, and learn more about its prospects in the new Congress. All of the participants were confident about the prospects for entrepreneurship legislation in the new Congress and left the meeting eager to continue working to make these changes a reality.

I’m glad to be having these conversations in an environment as vibrant and engaged as Austin’s tech scene. Like many other entrepreneurial communities, Austin is showing how cities can grow based on investing in the startup community. I’m hopeful we can take the successes and the experience that Austin has had and translate it to help other communities grow throughout the country.