Why do I write about local politics and economic stimulus on a startup blog? As I see it, traditional economic development efforts and local “job creation” programs ignore and in many cases actually discourage startup activity. While almost all mid-sized metros boast about their readiness to be the next big American tech or life science hub, this is mostly lip service and actual investment (tax) dollars are spent chasing big name companies looking to relocate  not on programs to assist the individuals most likely to develop innovative new products or services.

The second reason I rant about ecodev is because cities often behave like floundering startups. Do these sound familiar:

• No validation of market conditions or understanding of the actual customer
• Convinced they have a unique offering that is vastly superior
• A hyper-inflated “sales” plan with an almost magical string of mega-customer wins
• Belief that with enough marketing (rebranding), no one will notice the pig behind the lipstick

Tampa (in particular Hillsborough County) is no different, so over the past two months I traded my flip flops for wingtips and made an effort to play nice, observe and maybe even assist.