Gil Ligg said:
Jon,
No where do I say support for creatives should be charity. That's dumb. I'm saying that truly talented creative people are what give a city its cultural identity and truly creative people are very profitable.
Why wouldn't a city want to make investing in its creative class a top priority??? These people need funding and resources. The city wastes enough money on stupid crap that could rather be invested on talented people.
When I talk about creativity I'm not talking about prententious Art with a capital A. I'm talking about entrepreneurs, filmmakers, musicians, designers, scientists, inventors, you know, the type of people that create things that people want and help improve the quality of life.
The only priority city government should place on creatives is getting out of the way.
Government is horribly inefficient at deploying capital. By the time capital trickles down through the gatekeepers, stakeholders, and bureaucracy, 50% to 90% of its original value is probably stripped away by the time it hits intended recipients.
Then there is the process of who gets what. Picking winners.
Government is terrible at picking winners. Do you really want government picking winners?
Ever ride in an really expensive kid's car whose parents gave them the car no strings attached? Nine times out of ten it's a rolling dumpster inside the car, spent fast food bags all over the floor, trash everywhere, the car is usually not taken care of at all.
That's how I see government investment in creatives working. Free money probably kills off brain cells. It makes you dumb and slow. Those investments aren't usually taken care of because they weren't earned with raw effort and passion, and validated by a marketplace ready to buy something.
And besides, It's not government's job to support creatives. Whew, especially not city government. That's a horrifying proposition.
But, I'm curious when you talk about investment. What does that look like exactly?
Honestly, it sounds like the typical "what's in it for me" "what's government gonna do for me" routine.
However, with all that said, I would argue that there is probably too much support for the creatives you've mentioned.
Especially in Columbus there are tons to the point where some centralization of efforts would make a lot more sense than having dozens of simultaneous efforts where people are all working towards the same goal.
There has never been more of an overabundance of private and public resources to support many, if not most of the types of creatives you've mentioned.
Some have already mentioned some of those resources in this thread, particularly those for entrepreneurs. There's no use pounding on those points. If you don't believe they exist then whatever, maybe work on your Google skills if you have real intent.
Or just complain...
--
Ironically, last Thursday I had coffee with 8 people all working on startups here in Columbus. A startup being a business where the primary means of getting a customer and delivering a product is on the web.
These aren't pie in the sky businesses or people with just ideas. They're either businesses that have attracted private investment or businesses that are generating cash flow now.
Businesses that were all bootstrapped, not built on a rich uncle's bank account.
They were all started in Columbus.
Three of the people at the table were still in college, and one recently graduated. Most had no prior experience starting a business. No one received any kind of government support to get started.
On the investment side, I will concede that most Ohio investors (seed stage, venture, etc..) that invest in pre-money, and early stage companies are wrapped up in these public/ private relationships with the state where there are dollar for dollar matching funds from the state that follow their investments. It's "free money", but yeah, I'm not a fan of that arrangement either.
Anyhow, my point, though I believe I'll fail to convince you - is that the people doing the things you call for and the support you call for already exist in Columbus. The support exists to the point of excess and saturation.
If you're serious about the city you want, do some Googling, reach out to people here, and create the city you want. People will help you if you're doing something.
Don't just talk about it.
Inspire others to action by you yourself taking action and you'll see the magic happen.
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