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5 lessons U.S. startup communities should learn from 2017.
At Engine, we spend our days championing policies and initiatives that support startups. As we entered 2017 amid a new presidential administration and a flurry of media coverage over the economic distress of Middle America, we wanted to share the stories of the thriving startup communities that have already taken root across the country. Through our #StartupsEverywhere campaign, we wanted to help lawmakers understand where things are going right.

And while, admittedly, this year has brought us setbacks such as an imprudent net neutrality proposal from the FCC, misguided immigration-based executive orders from the President, and potential legislation that would undermine the intermediary liability provisions enshrined in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, there have also been several bright spots.

In this charged political climate, #StartupsEverywhere is our insurance policy on the innovation and progress of the past decade. Through it, we have created a dialogue with policymakers and voters about the flourishing startup ecosystems around the country that are offering important developments in numerous industries. Our goal has been twofold: to determine the crucial inputs that have enabled startup growth outside of Silicon Valley and New York City, and to highlight the incredible startups and ecosystem builders who often fall in the shadows of those cities on the coasts.

Over the past year, we’ve profiled 28 different entrepreneurial ecosystems in 22 states and we are nowhere close to finished. Going forward, though, we believe there are already a number of lessons to be learned from the communities we’ve talked to over the course of 2017.