Jameson Detweiler

Starting a company in Philly has been an amazing experience. I’ve been lucky as a Philadelphia entrepreneur to be involved involve with a group called Philly Startup Leaders for almost two years now. You can find the PSL Manifesto here. (HINT: You should read it.) And if you didn’t read, here’s the first and most important line:

“Because startup entrepreneurs need each other.”

I can’t tell you how helpful this community has been. If it weren’t for this group of amazing people, I don’t know if we would still be going over at GreenKonnect. Everyone in the group understands what we’re going through.

As an entrepreneur, you greatly increase your chance of success by involving yourself in an active and supportive community. There are three main benefits:

1. Support – Starting a company has a lot of ups and a lot of downs. Only other entrepreneurs understand this.
2. A Network – You greatly increase your chances of success when you’ve got other people on your side. If they believe in you, they’ll give you access to your network. (Use LinkedIn to your advantage. I’ll post more on that later.)
3. Education – I’ve made a lot of mistakes starting my company. PSL has helped me reduce the number of those mistakes.

But there’s one more thing that PSL has done for me, and it may be the most important thing to come out of my involvement. That’s the friends I have made and the discussions I’ve had with them. The best discussions are those I have with people who aren’t afraid of to step on my toes. As an entrepreneur, you need to be able to take criticism. You need to seek it out from your peers, potential investors and your users. These conversations have significantly changed the way we operate and talk about our business.

As I’m writing this, I’m realizing I don’t have enough of these conversations, so next time you see me, ask me about my business, then let me know what you think we could be doing better.

So, if you’re in Philly and starting a company, join PSL yesterday. If you’re not in Philly find a community or start one. Most importantly, find those people who aren’t afraid to smack you when you’re headed in the wrong direction.

I’d love to hear in the comments about your experiences with PSL and other similar communities.

It already is already a great city. If you’ve lived here for even just a short amount of time, you would know that. This place is booming in so many different ways. The arts, science, business, architecture, and more are growing here quicker than ever.

We have a new mayor who is dedicated to making Philadelphia the “greenest city in the United States of America.” We have some of the best arts schools in the world. South Broad Street has been reinvented as the Avenue of the Arts with countless theaters and music venues that attract premier shows and musicians. A Philly based restauranteur just beat Bobby Flay on Iron Chef. We might be getting the third tallest building in the US (500 feet taller than the Comcast Center); it won’t only be tall, it will be LEED Gold, mixed use, have bicycle parking, and have a 473′ high garden! We’re seeing amazing transformation of neighborhoods such as Northern Liberties and now Fishtown. The list goes on, but my point is that Philadelphia is already great. The fact that it is developing means that it is just getting better.

The question is, what can we do to help it become even better than it is today and to ensure that the development continues in a way that is best for all residents of and visitors to Philadelphia? How can we make Philadelphia the best city? I believe the key lies in the many amazing groups, organizations, and businesses throughout Philadelphia. 

There are so many great groups and organizations in Philadelphia. Philadelphia Startup Leaders is a great support network for startups, both young and old. Independents Hall is one of the coolest workspaces for freelancers (or any sort of independent worker). The Delaware Valley Green Building Council is an amazing group of people interested in making Philadelphia’s buildings greener. The Hacktory is “promoting the use of technology in the arts,” and in the process has produced some really cool projects. The 100K House project is working to provide the greenest, most affordable housing in the world. There are so many great people doing so many great things.

But what is it that these groups have in common? They are made up of innovators—innovators interested in the future of this city.

How do we take Philadelphia to the next level?

Look to William Penn. Penn was responsible for the way our city is laid out today with its 90 degree street grid. Philadelphia is one of the easiest to navigate cities because it was so intelligently designed. More importantly, Penn created an infrastructure that was easy to build off of. Without Penns’ grid, the city would never have been able to evolve into its current shape.

We need to give these groups and organizations an infrastructure to build off of, just like Penn did when laying out the city plan.

We need to create a virtual “grid” that connects these groups of innovators with new people, other organizations, more resources, funding. We need a place where people can go to discover all of the great things going on in this city and be able to get involved nearly instantaneously. Maybe this grid can bring in private companies and the local government as partners. Maybe it is a web tool. Maybe it is a coalition. Maybe it is a combination of both.

I’m not sure how this might play out, but I do know that there are many groups who are interested in making Philadelphia a better place. It is time for us to get organized and do it together. By working together, we can make this the greenest city in the world, a great place for entrepreneurs and businesses, the premier location for the arts. We can make it the best city, not just a great one. All it takes is a little coordination, a grid.

Who’s in?