Before we begin, go read this article from The Register. Do it now… I’ll wait…
…done? Good. Interesting, wasn’t it? I like El Reg, they’re one of my favourite sources of tech news. But I digress…
I’m also reading Brad Feld’s Boulder Thesis, which is also a fascinating read, about how the Boulder startup scene came together. Also fascinating to see from his description what a mature startup community looks like.
Perth is not a mature startup community; we don’t have the huge base of previously-successful entrepreneurs and investors kicking around the scene. All we have is a lot of hustlers and some amazing makers trying to make something happen here.
So what are we trying to make happen? What is the vision of our future that we have? Given all the good things that Brad Feld lists (inclusiveness, ‘give before you receive’ attitude, mentoring and generosity), what unique properties do we want the Perth community to have?
My personal opinion, and this is purely my personal opinion, is that the Perth Startup Scene needs to have:
– A sense of humour and a lack of earnestness. I don’t know about you, but I do find your average Silicon Beach entrepreneur takes themselves way too seriously.
– A creative spirit. Perth is uniquely creative; we punch way above our weight in art, music and coding. Let’s keep that, that’s good.
– Less reverence for money. Money’s great, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just money. There are other things that are more important in life.
– A relaxed attitude to rules. Please, for the sake of all things shiny, let’s not go down the usual Aussie business path of making rules about everything.
– A foot in each hemisphere. This one’s tough, but Perth is in a unique place as being very Western while in the same timezone as all things Eastern. We need to embrace this.
That’ll do for my list. What’s yours? What do you want the Perth Startup Scene to look like?
