Two years after StartupCity Des Moines opened its doors, organizers are taking some time to reflect on the journey so far and what’s still to come.
The incubator’s organizers published a joint blog post Tuesday reflecting on the three years since plans for StartupCity began. Although some commented on the post’s somber tone, StartupCity Des Moines principal Christian Renaud noted that he and co-founder Tej Dhawan wrote a similar piece last year and says the update was far from “writing an obit.”
“Every entrepreneurial community goes through ups and downs and I wanted to point out those so everyone could learn, using StartupCity as a microcosm,” Renaud told Silicon Prairie News. “We’ve had to adapt and evolve as the community has adapted and evolved.”
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Renaud and co-founder Tej Dhawan officially opened StartupCity in October 2011 after securing a three-year funding agreement from a number of local organizations, including the Polk County Board of Supervisors, Corporation for Economic Development, City of Des Moines, Iowa Department of Economic Development and the Greater Des Moines Partnership.
“We have another 33 percent of our funding and time left, and we’re going to move the ball as far downfield as we can,” Renaud said.
Although some of StartupCity’s practices may have changed over the years—transitioning from a tech startup incubator to a space that also includes co-working—Renaud says the organization’s mission is still very much the same.
“The macro thing we set out to accomplish was to help entrepreneurs and build more of a knowledge base in the community,” Renaud said. “There were tactical goals, but the purpose of (StartupCity) was to foster the development and growth of the entrepreneurial class in central Iowa.”
The organization’s three-year funding agreement—which expires on Sept. 30, 2014–has not yet been extended and Renaud says the next few months will likely be spent developing a succession plan of sorts. He also notes that the incubator model has become progressively less successful for StartupCity and wouldn’t be surprised to see an accelerator—similar to those established in Lincoln and Omaha—or an alternative co-working space spring up.
While organizers are still unsure what years four and five look like for StartupCity, Renaud doesn’t foresee the momentum the organization has built disappearing any time soon.
“I’m confident that with all of the different individuals involved and all of the energy and motivation and different sense of ownership, I think one or more successors will grab the baton from StartupCity,” he said.
Renaud points to the energy and initiative that led to the planning of the inaugural I/OWA conference—which begins Thursday—as proof that Des Moines entrepreneurs have taken an active interest in what happens to the city’s startup community.
“It’s clear that that entrepreneurial infection has metastasized,” Renaud said. “People from all over the community, the entire community, came forward and took ownership of the event.”
He also references his and Dhawan’s decision not to become directly involved with organizing 1 Million Cups Des Moines. “It’s good that there are multiple centers of gravity,” Renaud said. “If that detracts from our energy but it’s better in the long run then so be it.”
Aside from the next phase of StartupCity, one thing Renaud would like to see in the coming months and years is a better connection between the various startup communities and ecosystems across Iowa. “If they continue to function as a bunch of little Balkan states, they’re going to get stomped on,” he said.
Renaud says he and Dhawan take a lot of ownership in helping connect entrepreneurs across the state and hopes to continue strengthening those bonds in the coming years. “I’d like to see those relationships grow and evolve, just like I’d like to see StartupCity have a worthy second phase.”
This summer, former StartupCity resident Danyelle Crowell joined the day-to-day team as the space’s city manager. In the coming months, Renaud says StartupCity is planning a number of different community events—including a Hack Night and Startup Weekend—and also will be adding three more companies to the list of those co-working out of the space.
Credits: Christian Renaud photo from Twitter.
