Berlin

Berlin erlebt bekannterweise aktuell einen Webstartupboom als Standort. Da stellt sich die Frage, wie reagiert die Politik darauf? Unterstützt sie die Entwicklung? Schafft sie zumindest Stolpersteine aus dem Weg? Wie geht die Politik in anderen Ländern mit dem Techboom und seinen Möglichkeiten um? Drei Beispiele.

The Economist über die Initiativen von New York, High Tech in der Stadt zu etablieren:

Much of this growth has been organic, but there has been some help from City Hall. Since 2002 the city has set up more than 40 projects to help the biotech sector and helped create a network of incubators supporting start-ups in that area. It also established a $22m municipal entrepreneurial fund, the first of its kind outside Silicon Valley. A year ago Michael Bloomberg, a tech entrepreneur before he became New York’s mayor, called on universities to pitch plans to develop and operate a new tech campus in New York in exchange for access to city-owned land and up to $100m in public money.

[..]

According to the city’s analysis, over the next 30 years the campus will generate more than $7.5 billion in economic activity, with 600 companies spinning out of the new school directly; these are projected to create 30,000 jobs. Some 20,000 construction jobs will also be created, not to mention about $1.4 billion in extra tax revenue.

(Hervorhebung von mir)

The Economist über die Initiativen des US-Bundesstaates Nevada:

Mr Sandoval, upon becoming governor last year, made diversification his priority. As a Republican in today’s party, he put himself in a precarious position. Nevada already has low taxes (and no income tax at all) and lean regulations, so current Republican orthodoxy would suggest that the rest should follow by itself, since government must not meddle. But I “can’t sit back and do nothing,” says Mr Sandoval. “I don’t want this state brought to its knees.”
So he commissioned a big report by the Brookings Institution and SRI International, two think-tanks. Then he signed a law that elevated economic development to a cabinet position and set up a few funds to attract new companies. Admittedly, those funds are small in comparison to those of neighbours such as Utah.
And next? Mark Muro, the main analyst behind the think-tank report, has identified seven industries and some 30 smaller niches that Nevada should coddle.

Und Berlin? Was passiert in Berlin? Das Tech-Europe-Blog des Wall Street Journal:

According to Mr. O’Leary, the growth of Berlin as a tech center has happened despite, not because of, the German government. While the U.K. government has invested a lot of political and real capital in promoting London as a tech center, Berlin has had little government support. “I think the government has little idea what is happening. They are kind of just waking up to it now,” Mr. O’Leary said. “As much as we would like it, no one in Berlin — or Germany — should rely on any significant government support.”

Vielleicht ändert sich das nun, nachdem mit der Finanzierungsrunde von vermuteten 50 Millionen US-Dollar das Berliner Startup SoundCloud eine der größten Geldsummen in jüngster Zeit als deutsches Unternehmen von amerikanischen Risikiokapitalgebern erhalten hat. Mit Kleiner Perkins sind die Kapitalgeber auch keine unbekannten.

Es wäre zu wünschen, wenn Berlin sanft aber bestimmt die Startup-Szene unterstützen und sich ein Beispiel an New York und Nevada nehmen würde.

Es bleibt zu hoffen, dass Berlin mit den Webstartups nicht umgehen wird wie mit den Berliner Tanzclubs: Nach außen mit ihnen werben, sie aber in Wirklichkeit ohne Unterstützung der zermürbenden Zerstörungsgewalt von Verwaltungen und anderen Hindernissen überlassen.