0 Tech Companies Gravitate Back to Cities

Posted on October 24, 2017 by Wil Catlin

Where do venture-backed companies focus when coming to the 617 area code? Unsurprisingly, the list focuses on the city core with areas like the Seaport, Financial District, Back Bay, Kendall Square and some clustered at the 90/95 interchange.

map of office space in Boston and Cambridge

Credit: City Lab

Here’s a national perspective from City Lab:

While many large, high-tech companies like Facebook, Google, Apple, and Microsoft have their main campuses in suburban areas, cities and urban areas house the majority of venture capital–backed startups. My own research estimates that 55 percent of all venture capital investment now flows to urban neighborhoods. In the Bay Area and Boston–Cambridge, more than 60 percent of venture capital investment gravitates to these neighborhoods.

Additional information is available on CityLab’s website.

0 Stiff Competition for Tech Talent in Boston

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Globe

The growth of our tech economy has created some hurdles for employers seeking some tech talent. Benefits to employees have moved to Foosball, basketball courts and roof decks to help promote an inviting culture.

What does your company offer?

From the Boston Globe:

An index published by the Massachusetts High Technology Council, a trade group in Waltham, ranks Massachusetts as the most difficult state in the country to hire tech workers, along with Maryland and Virginia. The index, compiled with Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the employment site Monster.com, and the New York research firm Wanted Analytics, is based on a variety of data, including job postings and local unemployment rates.

“The level of demand and hiring difficulty are an indicator of the tech sector’s strength,” said Mark Gallagher, the high tech council’s vice president for public policy and communications, “but if unaddressed could be a constraint on the region’s ability to expand and remain a leader.”

0 Northeastern Whiteboard Roams Boston for New Tech Ideas

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Northeastern

Where do good ideas come from? Innovators. Northeastern has a great idea; bring the white board to the street, yes on a truck that hits key destinations within our city.

From the Boston Business Journal:

“Northeastern University is launching a new master’s degree in innovation and is celebrating with a “whiteboard innovation challenge,” meant to identify innovators who might be good candidates for the degree. A total of four questions will be posed in two-week segments for the duration of the eight week contest. Participants will be asked to submit their innovative idea via a whiteboard drawing, taking a photo and posting it for consideration through the D’Amore-McKim Facebook application or on the mobile truck white board at one of the various locations.”