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This is a great PR piece. Most Detroit Startups are actually just subsidiaries of Dan Gilbert's Quicken Loans. I've interviewed at least 2 of these startups wh

This is a great PR piece. Most Detroit Startups are actually just subsidiaries of Dan Gilbert's Quicken Loans. I've interviewed at least 2 of these startups where the compensation conversation ends up turning into. "Oh there is no CAP table. No shares to vest. We're wholly owned by Quicken Loans." You are literally just being give an open office, Free coffee, stupid tight deadlines, and next to no budget. To shove a product out the door. You still have a series B, C etc. (kind of). It's you meeting determined deadlines and metrics determined by Quicken Loans to keep the startup afloat. This isn't founders joining an incubator. This is Quicken Loans spinning off a shell company and 2-3 managers leaving Quicken to hire 6-7 fresh faced college kids with 3-5million in runway to do a project. --- Not to say there aren't real startups in Detroit. There are. Just _most_ listed in this in the OP are literally Dan Gilbert's pet projects.

sjg007 9y ago
Seems like a bad strategy overall, I mean they should have some shares available for employees. Cisco and other companies have spun out startups so it is not necessarily a bad model.
jamesxxoo 9y ago
That is correct. I can't image why this kind of article should be on hacker news. Hacker news sinks.
CrazyCatDog 9y ago
Thank you for your candor. I spent the last week in Ann Arbor (Boulder native + 17 years in CA, 2 in Seattle, +2 in the "silicon slopes." It's quiet here. The youngs don't seem to know yet that they can create (ridiculous) value on their own. If I'm missing something, e.g. if there is a strong angel group in A2 or Detroit, please drop me a note, I'm moving here and I'd love to join. (Yes I've seen the umich entrepreneurship efforts; winning school purses does not count) I'm bringing with me some anti-Incubator technology from out west. As in, I offer no money, I take no equity, and after 15 weeks of weekly 7am CEO meetings, you'll be convinced of 5 things: (1) No old (or "successful" entrepreneur) can solve your problems for you (2) Your peers are an amazing resource (3) You are the greatest impediment to your progress (4) You already know everything you need to know to start creating value, and you don't need a check to get started (unless you're curing cancer or doing similarly real science) (5) Andy Groves and Larry Ellison (v1) knew a thing or two about management I'll be launching an A2 cohort (unaffiliated with umich), an East Lansing cohort (possibly in conjunction with MSU), and potentially a Detroit cohort this Fall. If this sounds at all interesting, please drop me a note, I'd love to chat and I'd be happy to share metrics from earlier cohorts...Time to test out the model on Michigan--or vice-versa!
- segmondy 9y ago
  I'm in Detroit area, reachable via segmond at gmail.
- meddlepal 9y ago
  Larry Ellison v1... How many versions of Larry Ellison are there heh?
rmason 9y ago
That could not be more false. First of all Ted works for Techstars which has no connection I know of to Dan Gilbert, though they did receive funding I believe from Ford. Dan Gilbert has funded a lot of startups, but no where near all of the ones in Detroit. The majority of those startups are not connected to Quicken Loans except through their funding. Now it is true Dan Gilbert has a major PR machine but Ted's story isn't part of it. In 2008 when Gilbert began purchasing Detroit skyscrapers there wasn't a single VC in the city and few startups. Now there's VC's, offices from Twitter, Amazon, Google and an entire neighborhood of startups. It's rumored that Microsoft and HP are seeking downtown campuses. But Gilbert got the startup flywheel started in Detroit and we're feeling the effects a good ninety miles away here in East Lansing.
- vnchr 9y ago
  TechStars Mobility was originally started in Detroit as a partner with Bizdom, Dan Gilbert's now defunct startup accelerator (former participant speaking). Ross Sanders and the other Bizdom folks had a strong presence at the last Tech Stars Mobility demo day I went to. Now that Bizdom is gone, there is more oxygen for natural organic community. On a related historical note Marc Weiser and Tony Grover from RPM were active in funding Detroit startups and other MI tech from their office in Ann Arbor well before 2008. Lots of progress and growth in the Detroit startup scene, but far from the maturity that other communities have.
- segmondy 9y ago
  Microsoft is opening an office, not a rumor.

sjg007 9y ago

Seems like a bad strategy overall, I mean they should have some shares available for employees. Cisco and other companies have spun out startups so it is not necessarily a bad model.

jamesxxoo 9y ago

That is correct. I can't image why this kind of article should be on hacker news. Hacker news sinks.

CrazyCatDog 9y ago

Thank you for your candor. I spent the last week in Ann Arbor (Boulder native + 17 years in CA, 2 in Seattle, +2 in the "silicon slopes." It's quiet here. The youngs don't seem to know yet that they can create (ridiculous) value on their own. If I'm missing something, e.g. if there is a strong angel group in A2 or Detroit, please drop me a note, I'm moving here and I'd love to join. (Yes I've seen the umich entrepreneurship efforts; winning school purses does not count) I'm bringing with me some anti-Incubator technology from out west. As in, I offer no money, I take no equity, and after 15 weeks of weekly 7am CEO meetings, you'll be convinced of 5 things: (1) No old (or "successful" entrepreneur) can solve your problems for you (2) Your peers are an amazing resource (3) You are the greatest impediment to your progress (4) You already know everything you need to know to start creating value, and you don't need a check to get started (unless you're curing cancer or doing similarly real science) (5) Andy Groves and Larry Ellison (v1) knew a thing or two about management I'll be launching an A2 cohort (unaffiliated with umich), an East Lansing cohort (possibly in conjunction with MSU), and potentially a Detroit cohort this Fall. If this sounds at all interesting, please drop me a note, I'd love to chat and I'd be happy to share metrics from earlier cohorts...Time to test out the model on Michigan--or vice-versa!

segmondy 9y ago
I'm in Detroit area, reachable via segmond at gmail.
meddlepal 9y ago
Larry Ellison v1... How many versions of Larry Ellison are there heh?

rmason 9y ago

That could not be more false. First of all Ted works for Techstars which has no connection I know of to Dan Gilbert, though they did receive funding I believe from Ford. Dan Gilbert has funded a lot of startups, but no where near all of the ones in Detroit. The majority of those startups are not connected to Quicken Loans except through their funding. Now it is true Dan Gilbert has a major PR machine but Ted's story isn't part of it. In 2008 when Gilbert began purchasing Detroit skyscrapers there wasn't a single VC in the city and few startups. Now there's VC's, offices from Twitter, Amazon, Google and an entire neighborhood of startups. It's rumored that Microsoft and HP are seeking downtown campuses. But Gilbert got the startup flywheel started in Detroit and we're feeling the effects a good ninety miles away here in East Lansing.

vnchr 9y ago
TechStars Mobility was originally started in Detroit as a partner with Bizdom, Dan Gilbert's now defunct startup accelerator (former participant speaking). Ross Sanders and the other Bizdom folks had a strong presence at the last Tech Stars Mobility demo day I went to. Now that Bizdom is gone, there is more oxygen for natural organic community. On a related historical note Marc Weiser and Tony Grover from RPM were active in funding Detroit startups and other MI tech from their office in Ann Arbor well before 2008. Lots of progress and growth in the Detroit startup scene, but far from the maturity that other communities have.
segmondy 9y ago
Microsoft is opening an office, not a rumor.