If I can help please let me know @markdansie @inflectiontech

Why? Not because there aren’t alternatives, but because, and I say this as someone who has been involved in starting half a dozen companies, it makes absolutely no economic sense for most companies to own property unless they’re extremely large.

It ties up capital at expected returns far below what any reasonably successful business will hope to produce were they to invest it in other aspects of their business.

A business that don’t even try to beat a property investment in terms of return on investment, is horribly bad news for it’s owners and investors: They’d be better off investing in that property than using it themselves.

I’m a “veteran” in terms of startups (sadly none of them with sufficient exits to let me retire somewhere warmer…), having co-founded five companies, and worked in a few more startups, and all of these companies was down to personal connections, and several were down to spending time regularly with my future co-founders socially or professionally and “gel-ing” *before* getting the idea we wanted to start a company around.

So the biggest challenge, I believe is to create an environment that people will seek out regularly and meet like-minded people, and that will start to build a core of small startups around it. And that is a matter most of all about two things:

- Networking: I noticed the other day that despite the fact that I have an extensive global network on Linked In, that involves people in dozens of countries, and tons of people in Silicon Valley, my network is better developed in far away places with minimal tech industries like Alberta, Canada than it is in Croydon where I live. *Indirectly*, because I know and is connected to some very well connected people (fun fact: on average, most people are less connected than their friends) with extensive networks in the UK and extremely extensive networks in technology, and most Croydon people in tech I’ve found on Linked In are far out in my network or entirely outside it, that tells me that what there is of the Croydon tech scene is extremely insular.

- Creating activity: Arrange speeches; user groups; hack-spaces/*evening* co working to support and draw people to more informal networking.

I live near East Croydon. Yet tonight was the first time I heard about Matthew’s Yard. And that’s “it” for the borough, isn’t it?. It’s interesting and might serve as a good help for both, if it is/can be open in the evening as much as possible: Keep in mind that much startup activity takes place outside office hours for anything from months to a year plus before a company gets enough funding or traction to hire people. That is one of the big strengths of e.g. Silicon Valley in that finding outside-hours meeting places where lots of tech people gather is trivial.

I think the most productive way of driving something like this forward is to 1) start collecting lists of people interested in different types of events here, 2) contacting larger existing groups that might have membership here and offer to help arrange suitable events (e.g. any sufficiently large London based user group, for example).

Every event will make people form connections. Every connection is an increased chance of someone getting more involved or starting something.

What is not there is the vision, desire, will or ability of the people of power in Croydon to do anything with it.

I would love to see nothing more than Croydon being the worlds epicentre for creativity, drive and development.

My personal view is that between politics & religious views the borough becomes an economic & cultural sloth where little goes anywhere in keeping with the world and its always too little too late.

There are untold developments that Croydon fails to keep up with and this is always a reflection of people in power moving slowly and having no vision.

When vision becomes one of economics, again it is a mass failure because by the time it has mobilised the world has moved on.

Croydon could pave the way for start ups but how will it cope with subsequent affluence? Rents will be driven up, talent driven away. Same old boom & bust bollix??

We are bequeathed with the most outrageous multicultural Town that can declare itself an independent state of London by Geology & altitude.

We could rock the Universe if the people in power would take in the real world. Until that happens, the badgers and jellyfish will drift around and nothing will change.