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Happy August! I am back in the States after a great UK and Ireland trip. While there, I spent time getting to know some of the physical spaces where startup communities are growing in London, Dublin, and Belfast, and it had me thinking about density.
In a lot of tech hubs, you see a downtown area become a place of growth for startups when a coffee shop, coworking space, and brewery/bar coincide physically. You don’t see as much of this in Orange County though you see densities occur for example in The Cove, a business park that happens to have a coffee shop and multiple coworking and incubator spaces all within the same parking lot. Where else do we see these kind of densities throughout the county?
I also took some time to ask local startup leaders about big city tech hub vs. local holistic growth, for example London vs. the rest of the UK and Ireland. In my mind I was asking to compare Los Angeles vs. the surrounding regions that are under LA’s shadow. I heard familiar answers to what we face. In Belfast, there’s a significant brain drain, which is also not unusual in LA – based on this latest Angelist  report, even LA loses 70% of its university tech talent.
I also heard about the lack of capital and relevant mentors with direct tech experience. While it’s cathartic to know other communities are experiencing similar challenges and opportunities, sharing what’s working and what’s not across global communities is really what is exciting, and I will continue to share what I am learning through this platform.
Of course, I had a little fun too:
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