There Are Lessons To Be Learned Outside Silicon Valley

Skip Newberry, President of the Technology Association of Oregon, co-authored this post.

When asked for a general perception of what the startup community looks like, all too often people will volunteer information about bespectacled youths wandering around Silicon Valley with bundles of money, wearing ironic t-shirts, sipping single-origin coffee, and creating apps for you to while away time on your commute. It is, in a sense, the same type of reaction to the Portlandia phenomenon. Neither of these characterizations is entirely false–to be fair there is a lot of bird-related art throughout the Rose City–but there is a truth behind both perceptions: a new birth of economic growth and prosperity that cuts across traditional socio-economic lines that can be an enormous force for good in our communities.

Earlier this year, Engine teamed up with the Technology Association of Oregon to tell the story of Portland’s startup community. It’s the first part of the Startup Cities series that will profile more underrepresented communities around the country where startups are taking root and presenting new avenues for cities to capitalize on the innovation of its citizens to benefit the community as a the whole.

Portland was chosen as the pilot first because the city’s long history of entrepreneurship has translated very quickly into a supportive, thriving and prosperous startup community. The technology industry in the Portland Metro Area was the fastest growing in the country during the past ten years. In this same time period, the Portland Metro Area climbed to 9th in the country for startup density, and is attracting increasing levels of talent from Seattle, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Denver. Large companies such as ebay, Salesforce.com, Walmart Labs, SquareSpace, and Airbnb are also taking notice and expanding into the area.

And we know from Engine’s research that community benefits extend beyond the high wage tech jobs created. For every person a technology startup hires, 4.3 additional jobs are created in the local non-tradable sector. That’s everything from bakers to bankers, plumbers, and lawyers. Within Portland’s thriving startup community, these effects are visible and powerful.

But even more importantly, the community in Portland knows that to succeed everyone must work together. Serial entrepreneurs are becoming angel investors, helping entrepreneurs new to the scene jump in with both feet and grow products into businesses, and creating staying power that will help Portland succeed for years to come.

While no two entrepreneurial communities are alike, and replication of success stories can be a fool’s errand, the lessons of togetherness and support are ones on which Portland can lead, ones they can export, and in doing so become a leading community.

And Portland is just the first stop. It’s important that we start to look at the technology industry everywhere it exists to build a fuller picture of the community that is fast becoming the American electorate at large.

Engine Joins Steve Case's Rise of the Rest Road Tour Team

For four days in June, we’ll be joining Steve Case, Revolution, and Up Global to celebrate entrepreneurship across the country, showcasing startups and entrepreneurs in Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Nashville.

From our recent research, we know that the growth in high-tech startups is not simply a “tech center” phenomenon. In fact, high-tech startups are being founded across the country, fueling local and national economic growth.

“I have always believed in the power of entrepreneurship to change the world,” said Steve Case.  “This four-day journey will shine a spotlight America’s best and brightest, wherever they reside, to demonstrate that great ideas and great companies can come from anywhere.”

“We’re so excited to hit the road and report back on a story that demands more attention: some of the most exciting things happening in tech are happening far from San Francisco and New York City,” said Julie Samuels, Executive Director of Engine. “And it’s these young startups -- growing in these cities across the country -- that will create the jobs the next generation relies on.”

We will be joined along the way by nationally recognized entrepreneurs and civic leaders to celebrate the progress of the startup economy. Steve will also personally invest in each city’s startup community by hosting a series of pitch competitions - one winner in each city will earn a $100,000 investment in their company.

Each stop along the route will feature:

• Visits to local startups, accelerators and incubators
• Fireside chats featuring Steve Case and other entrepreneurial luminaries in a candid conversation about the local startup ecosystem
• Local startups pitching a panel of all-star judges, with $100K investment at stake
• Celebration and networking for local entrepreneurs

We hope to see you on the road!

More information on the Rise of the Rest road tour, including times and locations for specific events in each city, is available at www.riseoftherest.com and by following #riseofrest on Twitter and Instagram.

Engine to Wheeler: We Look Forward to Continued Discussion

In response to this morning's FCC hearing on preserving an open Internet, we offer the following statement:

We are again encouraged by Chairman Wheeler’s commitment to protecting the open and free exchange of information on the Internet, and to inviting comment on various paths to preserve an open Internet. We agree that network neutrality is essential for consumers, startups, and economic growth, and that “squeezing out smaller voices [and new ideas] is unacceptable”.

While we can echo the Chairman’s sentiments, he has not explained how the authority of Section 706 will achieve the lofty goals as outlined. Based on the Verizon v FCC decision, we believe that the Chairman’s proposal to rely on the Commission’s secondary authority cannot lead to rules that can both be upheld in Court and preserve the open Internet to give startups the certainty they need.

We look forward to discussing specific approaches to reaching the goal of an open Internet, and will continue to advise that Title II reclassification is the only route to preventing paid prioritization and an Internet of haves and have-nots.

12 Startups in DC for the Day

Thanks to our team of superstar delegates, Startup Day on the Hill 2014 was a rousing success. Members of Congress and their staffs are increasingly involved with the startup community and the technologies and services we’re building; they are starting to understand that they must support what we do for the good of the whole economy.

Our Women in Technology event on Tuesday night was attended by more than 100 people and DC luminaries, including visits from startup-friendly members of Congress including Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX), and DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL), who gave the evening’s inspirational remarks.

The packed celebration was also an opportunity for us to introduce Engine’s new Executive Director, Julie Samuels, who is committed to the issue of women in technology and has laid plans to bring on a senior fellow to advise on the subject. By focusing on the under-representation of women as engineers, founders, and investors, we hope to create better policies to give women an equal opportunity.

(Here’s what Politico had to say about the evening!)

Startup Day itself was packed with incredible experiences, vibrant conversations, and bold actions – all aimed at providing members of Congress more tools and resources to support startup communities and create better public policy.

In having these conversations, we already succeeded in bringing the startup community closer to policymaking in Washington -- at least for a day. But we also hope to have had an impact as the Senate continues to work towards patent troll reform, as the House works on immigration reform, and as Congress begins to tackle the numerous issues we face as a community.

Take a look at pictures from the day!

Stay tuned, also, for new installments to our Startups Speak series -- putting a human face on the policy issues we face.

We’re thankful to CEA for their generous support, and we look forward to continuing our work together. We also thank WeWork for hosting our team at their beautiful Wonder Bread Factory, Franklin Square Group and S-3 for their assistance in getting our events together, and to our Congressional co-hosts for their assistance in the coordination of the event.

We can’t wait for Startup Day 2015!

Meet Peter Pappas, Engine Advisor on IP

I’m really excited to launch Engine’s Senior Fellows Program. Starting with Peter Pappas as our Senior Advisor on intellectual property and other policy issues, we plan to expand the program with fellows on net neutrality, women in tech, and other relevant areas that affect the startup community.

Peter, who made his first public appearance with us at a patent reform panel in San Francisco, and then joined us in DC for Startup Day on the Hill, is the former chief of staff at the USPTO where he worked with Director Kappos and the White House on policy initiatives. In this position, Peter was intimately involved in the formulation, and passage, of the 2011 America Invents Act. And since then, he has been working with the USPTO and the White House on additional patent reform legislation that targets patent litigation abuse and fills in the gaps that were not addressed by the AIA.

Having advisors is essential for us as we continue to conduct existing policy work, and enter into new debates. Peter’s experience and expertise are particularly crucial right now, as we push the Senate to pass comprehensive patent reform.

Speaking of which, here is Peter's first op-ed for us on why we need to restore a patent system that support true innovation.

Watch Peter introduce himself and tell us why he’s excited to be here!

Critical Mass Supports Timely Patent Reform

This morning, we -- and 5600 other people -- sent a letter to the Senate urging real patent reform. Those people include 1507 entrepreneurs, 758 investors, and 1006 inventors -- at least 150 of whom own their own patents. This should serve as yet another reminder of the critical mass of job-creating entrepreneurs and businesses that support patent reform; the Senate should take note and act swiftly.

This letter is in addition to a letter the Senate Judiciary Committee received from U.S. Senators Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and 15 others  late last week. Signed by a broad coalition of Democratic and Republican senators, the letter cites widespread support across the county and in Congress for reforming the U.S. patent system to protect America's most innovative industries, as well as Main Street businesses and entrepreneurs across the nation, from abusive lawsuits and costly settlements.

As the Senate receives this letter, over 100 people will meet at Stripe’s office space tonight to talk about patent reform, listen to a panel of experts -- including former USPTO Chief of Staff and Engine Fellow Peter Pappas -- and formulate a plan of action for passing meaningful reform this year.

With the majority of patent troll targets making under $10 million in revenue, this is an issue so important to our community, and the economy as a whole, that we cannot afford to wait for action. When small businesses face dubious multimillion dollar lawsuits, our innovation economy suffers.

With the Senate poised to take up this debate in earnest early next month, we are entering the final, and most important, stretch of this battle. And we need you more than ever.

If you signed today’s letter and want to do more, or if you're just joining this coalition, stay tuned for the launch of fixpatents.org, a site that will help you call your Senators directly. A number of Senators and Representatives in Austin last week confirmed that making a phone call is the single most influential action you can take to encourage action in return, so we hope you’ll join us.

As we celebrate today’s actions, we also know there is still a lot more to do. Don’t stop here. Help us see this through.

Julie Samuels Joins Engine As First Executive Director

The Engine team and board are excited to announce that Julie Samuels has agreed to join as our first Executive Director, and has been appointed President of Engine Advocacy and Engine Foundation.

Julie has served on the Foundation board since its formation in 2012, where she has been an invaluable resource for the organization. Now we’re delighted to have convinced her to join us full-time.

Julie’s appointment is a major turning point for us. Today, Engine is a still-growing nonprofit organization (two, technically) and our staff produces economic reports, and provides policy guidance, direct advocacy, and member services to hundreds of startups. Engine’s staff and volunteers have done an amazing job of self-directing and building the organization you see today, with leadership coming from within the team, and from board members.

Julie’s job is now to take the organization through its next growth phase. She has committed to growing the team (we’re hiring!), launching a new policy fellowship program, building up a more substantial and diverse funding base, and exploring the social issues around technology in addition to Engine’s core set of focus areas. 2014 is going to be a big year.

And for those who don’t know Julie, she’s joining us from the Electronic Frontier Foundation where she was a Senior Staff Attorney, and the Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents (we swear). She’s also on a number of advisory boards, is a regular speaker at a host of prestigious places (CES, Harvard, Princeton - you get the idea), and Julie started her career as an entertainment and IP attorney. But Julie’s no ordinary lawyer. She was an advocate and journalist before law school at Vanderbilt, and interned at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications -- where the modern internet browser was born -- while still an undergraduate at the University of Illinois.

Since then, Julie has argued in the Megaupload case, has written a number of briefs for our nation’s highest courts, launched TrollingEffects.org and advised countless startups. Not to mention the hard work of maintaining a Twitter account in her dog’s name! (You can follow Julie on Twitter here.)

We believe there’s nobody better to represent startup entrepreneurs around the country, and make sure we do everything we can to foster economic growth, innovation, and achievement -- in the United States and abroad.

If you’re at SXSW this week and next, please stop by any of our many events, including this immigration reform event with many of our tech partners, and give her a warm welcome.

You can also find the press release about Julie’s appointment here.

Engine Discovers Tech Cities Across America

This year, Engine is hitting the road to tell the stories of entrepreneurial communities in cities and towns all across America. With a video series, produced by our own Daniel Schwartzbaum, we’ll shine a light on founders and entrepreneurs, asking them why they do what they do, and what it is about their community that gives them the support they need.

We chose Portland for a our pilot project -- just a short flight from our home here in San Francisco, but light years away in terms of community building. What we found was a collaborative atmosphere where founders, capital investors, city and state government, and other local organizations came together to build, with intention and thoughtfulness, a community that feeds on the boundless energy of its proponents.

With the generous support of the Technology Association of Oregon, and their President, Skip Newberry, we have started to put together the film on what we found.

Here is just a taste: the preview trailer we produced for TAO’s office opening party last week. The full episode will be out soon. During the rest of this year, we want to discover more tech cities around the country -- let us know if you and your community want to be involved. We can't wait to hear your story.

Help Us Make the Voice of Startups Stronger

Over the last 18 months, Engine has grown quickly from loose coalition, to more formal coalition, then finally becoming a legal nonprofit. Now we’re ready to take the next step: embarking on a fundraising campaign to help seed the organization, and ensure it will be around for a while to come. 

Since one of Engine’s key functions is connecting startups with government, and policy makers with startups, we’ve put a lot of energy into bringing the community together. Already during Engine’s short lifetime, our members have met with hundreds of policy makers, we’ve brought 70 innovators from across the country to meet with members of Congress in Washington, D.C., and 15,000 calls were made from Engine supporters to Congress during the Stop the Wall campaign against SOPA/PIPA. In addition, on the education front we’ve published hundreds of informative blog posts and key pieces of research, including our Technology Works study.

This work depends on the support of startups, larger tech companies, and individuals who believe in the work we’re doing, and want to help support our research and advocacy. Since we do not charge startups dues to join, and hope we never have to, we need your support -- your support is critical to our continued ability to bring the community together, undertake research, and develop successful campaigns to educate lawmakers, local elected officials, and the public about the impact the tech sector can have on economic growth and job creation.

We need you to make the voice of startup communities stronger. You can donate through the site, or contact us at giving@engine.is for more information.

Entrepreneurs Tell Lawmakers What They Need

At the end of February, Engine took 32 startups from across the country to the very heart of policy-making in Washington D.C. for our second annual Startup Day on the Hill. The aim was to facilitate interactions between lawmakers and entrepreneurs in order to build mutually beneficial relationships.

Participating startups include Etsy, Lyft, Yelp, and Maybrooks, among many others.

Here’s what Stacey Delo, Maybrooks Founder, had to say about her experience in Washington D.C. and what she went to talk about.

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Debi and I founded Maybrooks as an online resource for smart moms – at all stages of their careers – to go to find jobs, post jobs, and connect with like-minded women.

We built tools to harness the powerful word-of-mouth network among moms, and empower them to help each other find flexible careers. And there’s one key differentiator -- our growing job board that features meaningful opportunities for highly experienced working women who seek job flexibility. The site is a place where small businesses and startups can find overqualified talent on a flexible basis, and where large corporations can tout their amazing flex policies.

Just before our trip to D.C. with Engine, the New York Times ran a piece about how men are benefiting more from the economic recovery - from a jobs perspective - than women. As a result, our visit, and the opportunity to talk to lawmakers about women and jobs was well timed. Debi and I were particularly interested in telling policy makers about the large, smart, work-ready talent pool of women looking to put their skills to work with some level of flexibility.

To help craft our message, we built a survey to identify what working moms want when it comes to flexibility, and found that sixty percent wanted full-time job opportunities with options for flexibility. Ninety-four percent of the respondents said job flexibility was as or more important to them than money. See an infographic of the results here.

On the Friday before our trip, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer demanded that all remote-only workers come into the office, opening a floodgate of conversation nationally about workplace flexibility particularly as it pertained to working mothers. I felt fortunate to have the survey data showing that the majority of women we interviewed wanted full-time work with options for flexibility, not necessarily an entirely remote-work setup. (Here’s our take on the conversation about women in the workplace.)

The survey also highlighted the fact that 94 percent of women say flexibility is as or more important than money, yet 78 percent say finding flexible work is very or extremely difficult. These numbers, together with our belief in the Maybrooks platform as a way to raise awareness and make it easier for women to find the right job convinced us that attending Startup Day on the Hill with Engine was the next logical step. With the numbers and the platform, my meetings in D.C. allowed me to talk directly to lawmakers about supporting policies that keep women in the workforce, contribute to job growth for women, and provide greater flexibility and income parity with men.

I was so grateful to have this opportunity to meet face-to-face in small groups with some of the most influential people in D.C., not to mention the cool factor of simply being able to “check in” on Facebook at The White House. We were inspired by the country’s CTO Todd Park and his team, who are keenly in tune with the needs of startups, and working to operate their portion of government with as much agility as possible. I was also honored to sit at a dining room-sized conference table with three of the most accomplished women in government, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Rep. Anna Eshoo, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi -- all Democrats of California.

Impressed with how all the government officials were so open and willing to listen to startups and their needs, Debi and I thank Engine for opening this important line of communication between the tech community and Washington.

Stacey Delo, cofounder & ceo
maybrooks.com

@staceydelo

@maybrooksjobs

Join us for Startup Day on the Hill

Over the last year, Engine has worked to improve the entrepreneurial environment by providing knowledge to both lawmakers and startups about the issues that impact our community. We’ve released our first paper, met with officials in our offices, and brought entrepreneurs together around issues. One of our most successful events has been Startup Day on the Hill. Last year, we took 18 startups from all around the country to talk about the products and services startups are creating and how archaic laws are impacting their ability to innovate. Now we’re gearing up to do it again.

This year, Startup Day on the Hill is aimed at showing lawmakers that startups are creating jobs all across the country and spurring economic growth across many sectors of the economy. On February 26th and 27th we are taking Congress by storm. We’ll be meeting with the Chief Technology Officer at the White House, talking to Senators and Representatives about how immigration reform impacts the technology community, and educating our elected officials about the issues that directly affect our ability to invent, start companies, and create jobs.

The startups coming to Washington are making the next generation of educational toys and inventing new approaches to semantic search. They are pioneering medical devices to help detect and prevent heart disease, and building low-cost satellites to provide universal access to information about the changing Earth. These are just a few examples of the work that we’ll showcase for legislators -- work that is disrupting industries, creating new economic opportunity, and creating greater social good.

Check out our website to find out more about the agenda and consider joining us, too. Make your voice heard.

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.