What are you having to get used to?
I spent the last decade creating and building an entrepreneurship center at Tufts University, so in academia there are politics with a lowercase “p’’ and in the government it’s politics with a capital “P.’’ I recently spent 10 days with the governor on a trade mission in Brazil. Brazil’s biggest asset is its oil and arable land, and Massachusetts’ biggest asset is its brain power.
Why is it important for the local technology sector to have connections with developing economies?
For our tech companies, it’s a global world today. If they are just doing business in the US or focused on Massachusetts, then they cannot be a strong competitor in the world economy. We also need to encourage tech companies outside the US to have their US headquarters here. Our goal first and foremost is job creation here, but if our companies are doing business elsewhere, we want to support them, and that will influence their commitment to Massachusetts.
New York eclipsed New England in venture capital funding. How do we ensure that Massachusetts remains a vibrant place for start-ups?
When you look at pure dollars, New York has eclipsed Massachusetts. But on a per capita basis, we are still ahead of anyone else. Kendall Square has the strongest concentration of start-ups. One of the initiatives of Mass. Technology Collaborative is our Tech Hub Collaborative, which is a bunch of tech CEOs working with venture capitalists to launch new ventures. It’s been responsible for creating 12 new start-ups.
You’ll often hear people lament that Facebook started here but left. How can you ensure that start-ups stay here?
