Why I moved Splash to Oakland from San Francisco

To build a culture of entrepreneurship and showcase the East Bay

On May 6-7, Vator will bring our popular Splash tech startup event and competition to Jack London Square on the Oakland waterfront, after four years of holding it successfully in San Francisco. The question I’m asked is: Why move to Oakland from San Francisco?

Firstly, I live in the East Bay. Secondly, I like the Oakland A’s and the movie, Fruitvale Station. For years, Oakland residents encouraged me to move Splash to their town. Having lived in San Francisco, it seemed the fastest way to lose attendees. My perception was that it was far and unsafe. 

Over time, my perception began to change. I found myself attached to Oakland’s scrappy baseball team – the A’s – and what they came to represent: a resourceful team facing outsized challenges. The movie Fruitvale Station brought home another Oakland asset – its residents – facing overwhelming odds amid a world forging ahead with prosperity. The movie is, as I wrote at the time in the fall 2013, “a candid look at the murky reality and morality of life in an environment with few opportunities.” My takeaway: To reduce the probability of Fruitvale Station incidents, Oakland desperately needed economic development. Oakland, a place with a diverse, passionate community, deserved the prosperity that was accruing to its wealthier Bay Area neighbors.

In San Francisco, 30% of jobs created last year were technology related. Those jobs helped to drive down unemployment to below 5%. Oakland’s unemployment is almost double, but shifting, from 13% in January 2013 down to 9.7% by December, according to Oakland’s Department of Economic & Workforce Development. In fact, it’s a significantly greater rate of decline than San Francisco, which went from 6.9% to 4.8% in the same period.

San Francisco’s economic engine has been powered largely by the tech boom and entrepreneurial spirit that drives its residents to create their own opportunities, and strive for greatness. This culture is a big part of San Francisco’s allure and has helped it to flourish. Oakland, on the other hand, is still struggling to find its economic footing.

Yet the city has so much to offer with growing assets that can drive economic prosperity, including favorable infrastructure for both office and residential space being developed on several-billion-dollar budgets. There are flourishing co-working spaces, such as The Port Workspaces, and new investors, from Better Ventures, Base VC and Kapor Center for Social Impact joining long-time Oakland resident Claremont Creek Ventures and putting money to work in local startups. There are also organizations trying to make tech jobs more accessible to local residents, such as Hack the Hood, Black Girls Code, and Techbridge as well as organizations boosting the tech ecosystem, like 2.Oakland.

There’s world-class academic infrastructure in the East Bay with Cal, St Mary’s, Cal State East Bay, Mills College and a bevy of other academic institutions. And one only has to look to the vibrant maker, hacker and small business community to find plenty of creative entrepreneurial spirit. 

Read the rest of my story on Oakland Local, the popular local news site that originally posted my story.  
Read my earlier story on How Oakland can see an entrepreneurial renaissance. 

(Image source: Jack London Square)