Taking advantage of the vibe that SXSW brings to Austin, Governor Abbott invited a bunch of tech entrepreneurs and CEOs to his mansion on Saturday to tout Texas as the place to do business, even tech business.
I absolutely agree with the Governor that Texas has everything it takes to lead the nation in startups and tech innovation, but it is not for the same reasons that he is touting. In fact, I might go so far as argue that the “business climate” that Governor Abbott and his friends are promoting are actually counterproductive to fostering a thriving tech culture.
The same business climate that encourages major industrial polluters to move to Texas is not likely to be the sort of environment that attracts super smart, bike-riding, idealistic, urbanist computer hackers to the state.
The formula for tech jobs is clear: young tech workers choose to live in a cool city with great amenities and tech companies follow. Cities in Texas, like Austin and Denton, are fostering this environment despite what our state leaders are doing.
At a time when millenials are increasingly favoring urban city centers, Governor Abbot and friends have declared war on cities and their ability to self-govern. In fact, to an educated, idealistic, and environmentally conscious young person, there’s something very sexy about a city taking matters into their own hands and banning things like fracking and plastic bags.
Several cities around the nation have realized that creating a thriving, dynamic, livable city is the best sort of incentive for the tech industry. This is why Chicago and Seattle are on a sort of “arms race” to build the best bicycle facilities in order to retain and attract its smartest workers. Simply touting “limited government” and “low regulation” is missing the mark.
While the tech world is celebrating recent FCC rulings that promote Net Neutrality and municipal broadband, Texas Senator Ted Cruz continues to repeat his corporate-backed mantra that “net neutrality is Obamacare for the internet,” signaling to small startups everywhere: “In Texas, we prefer big corporations to you.”
The fact remains that Texas has so much to offer as a potential player in the innovation economy: excellent schools, diversity, great cities, low rent, central location, top notch arts and culture, and the funkiness and beauty that only results when conservatives and progressives are forced to interact and play together.
When it comes to promoting the tech industry, instead of making fun of California (which probably plays better in the board room of Exxon Mobile than it does among the best and brightest of Google), perhaps our state leaders would do well to learn from them on this point.