Boston has been ranked the No. 1 city for startups for the second year in a row, beating out major business hubs like the Bay Area and Philadelphia, which are ranked second and third, respectively.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranks cities every year based on their ability to make money in the rising digital economy, according to the annual report. The standards each startup community is judged by are in terms of capital and financial resources, connectivity to the rest of the city, creative culture, concentration of startups, industry specialization and talent available in the city.
Boston maintained its winning spot due to its top ranking in terms of the number of startups in the area and access to capital, according to the report. The growth of Boston’s startup community is thought to be owed to the stream of new talented individuals in technology from local universities such as Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston University.
Suzyn Ornstein, a professor of management and entrepreneurship at Suffolk University, wrote in an email that Boston’s top ranking as a city for startups is likely due to the well-developed entrepreneurial ecosystem in the city.
“We have access to new technologies via the various universities in the area,” Ornstein wrote. “Those universities also support start-up activities through their programming including innovation awards, pitch contests and business plan competitions”.
Ornstein wrote there are many investors and networking opportunities available in Boston which can be vital to the success of new startup companies.
“There are hundreds of local meet-up groups, innovation night events, networking and other types of supporting activities that contribute to Boston’s being ranked so highly,” Ornstein wrote.
Brandon Freiberg, the founder of Endorse.gg, a marketing startup company for esports and streamers, said what makes Boston attractive for startups is the large number of students pursuing higher education.
“[What’s unique about Boston] is the sheer number of different universities that exist producing different types of research,” Freiberg said. “I imagine that confluence has been really instrumental in the Boston startup scene and I think it’s really hard to duplicate that in really short time in other areas.”
Phil Neray, the vice president of industrial cybersecurity at the startup CyberX, said the reason he chose Boston to start his business was because of the large pool of qualified people in various fields the company could draw upon to hire.
“The rich academic environment here with all the big universities … creates an environment where people care about technology, people care about innovation” Neray said.
Neray said Boston’s location is ideal because of its location on the East Coast.
“If you do a lot of business in Europe, Boston is kind of halfway between Europe and the West Coast,” Neray said. “It’s a lot easier.”
Steve Willard, the founder of the startup Curio, a data platform for government use, said startups are vetted more seriously in Boston than other locations.
“Everything I hear about the West Coast is that it’s way more cut throat, the ideas are crazier, you can get money to build a dog walking app,” Willard said. “Whereas … in the Boston area, I’ve heard that startups here need more of a business plan to make money. In general, people are friendlier and the ideas are a little more grounded in reality.”
Several Boston residents said while the ranking is good, startups could cause problems for residents.
David Dodson, 45, of Allston, said working for a startup can be a negative experience for some employees.
“Frequently startup culture means that you are working extra hours and harder for the same money you’d be making elsewhere or less sometimes,” Dodson said. “I’m not really a fan of the way they operate as far as that goes.”
Lia Lamela, 31, of Brighton, said despite the city’s ranking, she didn’t know much about startup companies in Boston.
“I don’t know much [about the ranking],” Lamela said. “All I know about startup companies in Boston is that there are a lot of them.”
Claudia Friedel, 33, of Jamaica Plain, said not everyone benefits equally from the rise of startup culture in cities like Boston.
“There’s a lot of innovation here,” Friedel said. “I do think with that, there comes a lot of gentrification of the area, so I sort of have mixed feelings about … what type of culture that provides for people that are of a certain privilege versus the sort of innovation and resources it gives to people that were born in raised in Boston and people that don’t necessarily have the privilege to take advantage of that and are being pushed out.”
