INNOVATORS | SPECIAL REPORT
CAPITALDISRUPTED A city known for politics is getting hacked by millennials and startups
FRONT ROW (L to R), Julia Alexander, ExecOnline, Uyen Tang, Stylecable, Joseph Santoro, Waveborn, Dan Ye, CollegeNode, Jan Pablo Segura, 1EQ, , SECOND ROW (L to R), Hannah Rho, CollegeNode, Emmanuel Smadja, MPOWER Financing, Richard Graves, Ethical Electric, Ketan Patel, DailyHealth, Dave Haft, ImpactHub, Justin Searles, VentureBoard, John Fanguy, Engagiant, Dave Anderson, Hitch, Camp McCurry, Drizly, Mariama Kabia, Memunatu Magazine, Fatama Kabia, Memunatu Magazine, Gary Hensley, EdBacker, Josh Hurd, NonprofitIQ, Le-Marie Thompson, Nettadonna, Nicole Gallub, Pelonkey, Morgan Giddings, Piper, Ciera Gallub, Pelonkey, Michael Heller, Engagiant, Hunter Hayes, Zerocycle, , THIRD ROW (L to R), Shaofeng Yang, Locus Social, Charles McGuire-Wein, Good World, Michael Madon, RedOwl Analytics, Harun Kazaz, American Story Channel, Mrim Boutla, More Than Money Careers, Grant Elliott, Ostendio, Brian Christie, Fanaticall, Shana Lawlor, POHs, David Gomez, Hilltop Energy Partners, Charles De Vilmorin, Linked Senior, Starr Barbour, Get the Word Out, Michael Cassidy, NineQ, Natasha Iwegbu, InnoPDG, Scott Block, ventureboard, Martin Levine, Whyttle, Hilina Kebede, BlissInvite, Adam Connor, Brigade, Maksim Tsvetovat, Open Health Network, , FOURTH ROW (L to R), Chris LeSchack, iMougul, Matt Colbert, Spend Consciously, Matthew Kemph, Kickball365, D’An Hagan, SmartDetect, Joseph Keum, ClickOrder, Neel Patel, MGNFY.IT, Bilaal Ahmed, LinkTank, Don Frazer, collegesnapps, David Conley, SavingsSquirrel, Dave Cook, Narrative Sciences, Rick Gersten, Urban Igloo, Robert Betteman, Bun Out the Oven, Erik Skantze, Ivy Standard, Cheryl Montalvo, , Julie Gaskins, Geb Jobs Network, Masha Sharma, Totalpass, Robert Mander, Govlish, Gerald Meggett, MyQVO, , FIFTH ROW (L to R), Dan Birdwhistle, Studio Publishing, Kenny Day, BrightRoll, McEwen Hardy, VibeCheck, Thomas Lugbin, Grey Matter, Armin Kiany, EdClub, Jeremy Brosowsky, Agricity, David Fairbrothers, Dorsal, Paul Guthrie, Potomac Health Solutions, Dan Kuenzi, LocalRoots
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uick, name the city that ID.me, Speek,Venga, TrendPo, SocialRadar, Contactually and Gryphn call home? What about Vox Media, Zip Car and Wedding Wire? Do BlackBoard, LivingSocial and MicroStrategy ring a geographic bell? How about AOL? Oh, AOL! Of course, it’s Washington, D.C. Innovation in the nation’s capital used to be the opening of a new steak restaurant. Things have changed. Although the city’s main thrust still comes from Capitol Hill,
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its soul is being defined by startups and entrepreneurs. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when this renaissance began, but its family tree has an AOL root. Washington does have a long history of innovation if one considers Duke Ellington, Henry Rollins or the painters of the Washington Color School. Include NASA, the NSA, CIA and Department of Defense, the capital’s innovation net grows exponentially. Still, for years we were left without a game-changing corporate entrant on the Apple/Google scale.
That changed in the late ’80s and early ’90s when AOL and a number of technology and media companies began popping up in the sprawling Virginia suburbs and the likes of Steve Case, Ted Leonsis, Sheila Johnson and Michael Saylor emerged. Flush with cash to invest from their mature companies, these seasoned entrepreneurs became investors, mentors and stakeholders in the early 2000s startup scene. That’s when some of the city’s most recognizable tech brands emerged, including BlackBoard and LivingSocial,
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
| N O V E M B E R | washingtonlife.com
P H OTO BY TO N Y P OW E L L W I T H S P EC I AL T H A NKS TO TO M T U RK FO R EQ U I P M E N T LOA N
INTRODUCTION BY MICHAEL M. CLEMENTS