RC JOURNAL: Decentralized Entrepreneurial Hot Spots

In the early days of Silicon Valley, one of the entrepreneurial hot spots that spurred innovation was Buck's Woodside restaurant (I recommend a visit if you are ever in the area). It's the place where entrepreneurs cut deals with venture capitalists (from nearby Sand Hill road) to launch many of the most successful technology companies in the world. However, in today's environment, a concentrated hot zone like Bucks or a Silicon Valley isn't viable (or wanted).

Instead, we are seeing highly decentralized hot spots of local innovation. One such place is Claire's restaurant in Hardwick VT (recently mentioned in the NYTimes). Local entrepreneurs meet at Claire's to jointly and cooperatively innovate. The main focus of their effort is to remake Hardwick (a failed mining town) into a vibrant community through a revival of local agriculture. To do so, they are building a complex hybrid of local agriculture, business, technology, finance, and community connectivity. For example, they share equipment, capital ($300,000 so far and counting), and insight. They even do business with each other and have joined cooperatively to create a 30 farmer community supported agriculture (CSA) program. Essentially, the effort underway at Claire's is building the foundations for a resilient community.

If there isn't a "Claire's" in your town, make one.

Comments

[Duncan Kinder]

John, you actually would like to read Plato, who advocated the drinking / dinner party as a font for innovation.

His Symposium takes place during a dinner party. Unlike the stereotypical Socratic dialog, in which Socrates cross-examines someone into knots, here each speaker rises and holds forth, giving a speech. Plato's Laws also discusses the role that drinking parties play in a civil society.

The Renaissance took off with this idea. There were many circles that engaged in intellectual pursuits. One of the most famous was the Florentine Camerata, a group of musical innovators in Florence ( including Galileo's father ) who invented opera.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florentine_Camerata

My favorite such group, however, is the Mermaid Club. Founded, according to legend, by Ralegh and Shakespeare, it definitely included Johnson, Donne, and a host of other Elizabethan poets. They met weekly at the Mermaid Tavern in London.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mermaid_Tavern

There is a host of writings related to this topic. I happen to have gathered many of them together in my Amazon.com list, "Philosophically Correct Entertainment."
http://www.amazon.com/Philosophically-Correct-Entertainment/lm/R36TXX122KCSWN/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full

[gmoke]

Another place where networking can occur is at such events as the monthly weatherization barnraisings that we are doing in Cambridge, MA. I taught people how to build a windowbox solar air heater at the last one and we will build a compost hot water heater at the next one on Nov. 15.

Organize a regular activity which is constructive but also makes time for talk and socializing. This is an ancient and potent habit that people have used for millenia: shucking bees, quilting bees, spinning rooms on winter nights, community harvests, barnraisings..... People get to do something that makes a difference on that day and talk over plans for the future at the same time. Work parties are a great way to institutionalize Tom Sawyer organizing ("It's such fun painting this fence! Why I wouldn't stop doing it for a dollar!"

[Thomas Daulton]

So it's sort of like a commune or a kibbutz, but with the Centralized Command-and-Control structure replaced by individual capitalism... interesting, but is it sustainable in the face of its own success?

It's been attempted before:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanseatic_League

The Hanseatic League (also known as the Hansa) was an alliance of trading cities and their guilds that established and maintained trade monopoly along the coast of Northern Europe, from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland, during the Late Middle Ages and Early modern period (c.13th–17th centuries). The Hanseatic cities had their own law system and furnished their own protection and mutual aid.

[Michael]

This post inspired a post at our blog. Thanks!
http://blog.launchpadcoworking.com/

[radio controlled helicopters]

good read.. I agree with some of the article but other parts I do not accept. Keep on writting good articles