Tech startup events Seattle

You wouldn’t know it judging by the spoonfuls of hot chili that Mayor Mike McGinn is wolfing down, but it’s a picture-perfect and rather warm May afternoon in the Emerald City.

As we chat about how Seattle can become a global startup hub, McGinn looks outside his vast seventh floor City Hall office window to the beautiful blue waters of Puget Sound.

“What sets Seattle apart, ” the mayor says, “is the quality of life.”

He then quickly lists them off: A great music and nightlife scene. A thriving place for arts and culture. Beautiful natural environment that “we treasure, ” as he puts it. A city that’s open to gay marriage and supportive of immigrant and refugee communities.

“When you put it all together, this is a good place to be if you want to try to realize some of the potential of who you are, ” McGinn continued. “We provide a ton of opportunity. And yes, people are going to go to New York City, San Francisco and Boston because they have those attributes, too. But I’m glad I’m Mayor of Seattle.”

McGinn lets out a big laugh, but he’s not kidding: Seattle is well on its way to becoming a world-class city. He knows that a booming business scene has a lot to do with progress, and so today McGinn announced the launch of a new initiative called Startup Seattle, taking over the site that was started by Seattle startup impresario Red Russak. The new effort is designed to support the growth of the Seattle tech startup community and make the city recognizable around the world as a thriving startup ecosystem.

The initiative is a collaborative effort between the City of Seattle and an advisory group made up of several influential tech titans in the area like GeekWire Awards keynoter Chris DeVore, the University of Washington’s Ed Lazowska, Madrona’s Greg Gottesman, Startup Weekend’s Marc Nager and SURF Incubator’s Seaton Gras. (Editor’s note: GeekWire co-founder John Cook also served on the advisory committee). It’s also the result of a year’s worth of research done by the City, including startup roundtables like the one McGinn organized last May.