I recently sat down with entrepreneur of year and former mayoral candidate Mark DeSantis. Since he left the political spotlight two years ago Mark now leads two start-ups in Pittsburgh, MobileFusion and Apangea.
Mark recently came out supporting independent candidate for Mayor Kevin Acklin, while we got into the campaign a little, I wanted to know his opinion on what makes Pittsburgh the number two city to start a small business and what it will take to get to number one. For full disclosure, I was a student of Mark’s at the Heinz College and worked on his campaign for mayor.
So, what makes Pittsburgh the second best place to start a business? “Experience.” Mark sums it up in one word, “During the dot com bubble a lot of people found success and they’ve stuck around.” Because of these success stories, Mark continues, “Pittsburgh now has more and more sophisticated, angel investors who want to be involved and make their investments a success.” Of course, that’s not it. After the success of some university spin-offs like Vivimio (MobileFusion is a spin-off as well) the university community saw the path to commercialization being blazed. “Both professors and students are more savvy and better understand how their research and technologies create products that have a market.” Have the university transfer offices been better at encouraging and assigning spin-offs? “Not really. From my perspective it’s been more that the university communities are seeing success which encourages more success.”
Then what will it take to move to number one? “We’re overtaxed by a not business friendly government. When comparing the cost of business in Pittsburgh to other cities, or even neighboring counties, Pittsburgh costs too much.” There are many things that come into play other than taxes and city government, though. “AlphaLab and InnovationWorks are great for financing start-ups, but we need more later-stage financing.” Mark speaks about what gets more money to come to town. “Success. And luck. Successes attract more money and luck plays a big part of it.” How does success attract more money? “Success brings more money into the city, and when they are here, they look all around.”
Why Kevin Acklin? “Kevin would be a great mayor. We need someone that brings intelligence and maturity to solve our tough problems.” On day one Kevin needs to take action to attract more investments in Pittsburgh. What does he need to do? “We need to ask if we need all of this bureaucracy. Can we do what we need to do with less and be better at it? Yes. No one believes that we are delivering our services in a meaningful way – not even the people working for the city.” Having worked in government and business Mark speaks with a passion to see his city succeed – to see real leaders step-up. He is quick to point out that leaders do not always have to be in charge, but that this city lacks leadership.
To be one of the successes that you think Pittsburgh needs, what advice to do you have for those starting out? “Expand your social network outside of the city. Technology and money are not enough. What makes and will continue to make Pittsburgh great are the relationships our entrepreneurs have with the rest of the world.”
Mark isn’t just passionate about building businesses; he is passionate about building better communities. His ask of you? “Have faith in the future of Pittsburgh. Get engaged and take personal responsibility. Ask the tough questions, and then demand answers.”
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