AI House co-founder and managing director Jacob Colker may be Seattle’s number one cheerleader. In posts on LinkedIn, panel discussions and recent news stories, Colker is reminding Seattleites that this is a pretty special place.
That all bubbled up at a Seattle Tech Week startup showcase event on Tuesday when the venture capitalist gave a passionate speech about the positive attributes of Seattle — a city that despite a robust innovation economy, spectacular scenery and a great showing during the World Cup is a bit down on itself lately.
Colker, channeling the best motivational speaker vibes, let loose at the Showbox Market.
“I am here because Seattle is at the forefront and has an opportunity to have a massive impact on this next wave of technology,” he said. “But we are missing a major piece of making that happen.”
That missing piece, he explained, is community and connection.
He shared a story about his first experience at a Cirque du Soleil show, saying his mind was blown seeing people doing flips and flying horses floating above him. He was amazed, and awestruck. Many years later, he took his family to Redmond’s Marymoor Park to see a Cirque show, and they walked out kind of underwhelmed.
“We get numb to the magic,” said Colker. “And I’ll tell you what, that’s what’s happening right here in Seattle.”
He went on to say, “We have flying horses in every part of this city,” citing the impact of companies like Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft and countless startups. “We literally created the cloud,” he said.
Colker also noted the world-changing impact of the University of Washington, ranked one of the top public education institutions in the country.
At the end of the day, it wasn’t so much a speech as a rallying cry. Or, perhaps, a love letter to a city that Colker believes punches well above its weight and yet is globally (and locally) underappreciated in many ways.
Colker’s message resonated with some, including fellow venture capitalist Jen Haller from Ascend, who commented on Colker’s LinkedIn post: “Jacob for Mayor!”
Asked later by GeekWire why he felt compelled to share this message with the crowd, Colker said that Seattle “has absorbed years of lazy criticism and has started to internalize it.”
“The city does not have a talent problem, an ambition problem, or an innovation problem,” he tells us. “It has a confidence problem. Too many people have forgotten what has been built here, what is being built here, and how much potential is still sitting in this region waiting to be activated.”
Colker does not see himself as a civic booster. He just wants people to stop accepting others’ definition of the community, recognize the extraordinary assets already in place and “start behaving with the urgency, pride, and conviction of a city that belongs at the center of what comes next.”
It was a common theme at Seattle Tech Week. Earlier in the day, at a Building in Seattle event, startup leader Zaylan Jacobsen, co-chair of the local Young Professionals Nexus chapter, described Seattle as “one of the most special places in the entire world.” While acknowledging short-term problems, he urged the crowd to recognize its timeless qualities, including the natural environment.
Colker, after his speech later that night, still had some bottled up energy left over to play drums on the Showbox stage with his band: Good Lettuce and the Hallpasses.
One of the songs Colker and his bandmates belted out: Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey. It seems an appropriate message for Seattle at this given point in time.
Rock on, Jacob. Rock on.
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