‘We shouldn’t try to reinvent ourselves as Silicon Valley’: Radio Times [AUDIO]

Philly is (clearly) not Silicon Valley, and we shouldn’t aspire to be.

That was the consensus among the four local tech scene leaders featured on WHYY’s Radio Times yesterday morning. First Round Capital Managing Partner Josh Kopelman, Artisan Mobile (formerly AppRenaissance) CEO and Philly Startup Leaders president Bob Moul, Benjamin Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania CEO RoseAnn B. Rosenthal and Technically Philly cofounder Chris Wink spent an hour on the live talk show discussing the local tech startup scene: how it’s grown and how to get it even further. It was the second show in a series on local innovation.

Kopelman likened the Philly/Silicon Valley issue to U.S. cities’ Chinatowns. Philly shouldn’t try to reinvent itself as Silicon Valley, just like Chinatowns aren’t trying to reinvent themselves as China, he said.

Our sister site Technically Baltimore has also covered this topic, calling for Baltimore to embrace what makes its tech scene unique, like expertise in edtech and cyber security.

Listen to the whole show.

Listen to Radio Times on Thursday at 11 a.m. for a show focused on how city government uses technology to interact with its citizens, including open data initiatives and digital access efforts, as discussed by a panel which will include this reporter.