If it’s not dirty, it’s not an incubator

Today I had the opportunity to visit Orange County’s main incubator, the Digital Media Center, headquartered in Santa Ana, California.

Cool looking place. Probably the cleaniest looking building in all of Santa Ana. For all you football nuts, here’s a great reference point: it’s right across the street from Mater Dei high school (the powerhouse So-Cal football team). 

When you enter the building, it feels very sharp and clean. Almost like you’re in an Apple store on steroids. Not only does it have the simple, styllish look of Apple stores, it also boasts powerful servers, insane bandwith and a conference room that makes Donald Trump’s look like a doll-house.

It’s incredible. Only problem: It’s a ghost town. Granted, I was there on a Friday afternoon.  But so what? If you have a public incubator, it should always be full! There should always be activity. 

The second thing I found quite peculiar was its cleanliness. It was just too clean. When you think of an incubator, you think of the big ones. Idealab, for instance. Or Y-Combinator (if that even qualifies). You think of a place where you can smell the sweat equity–literally. And it doesn’t always smell roisy.

Let’s think of the term “incubator.” The foundation of an incubator revolves around mirroring the environment of the natural alternative, yet adding elaborate components to speed up the company’s growth.

When I think of a startup, I don’t picture a boring, meticulous accounting firm like deloitte. That’s what the Digital Media Center feels like. There’s no clamoring. There’s no yelling. There’s no coke stains. There’s no entrepreneurs sleeping under their desk. There’s no low-hanging cubicles. Everyone is walled up and concealed. 

Is this a problem? Yes, for some startups it cerainly will be. People go to an incubator for connections, for the environment–for people. If you wanted a closed room, work from home (or a safe-house). Already there have been startups that failed in the environment. Why? It’s not natural. It doesn’t mirror the natural startup environment.

Is it a revolutionary building? Yes. But is it an incubator? No.

Remember this always: “If it’s not dirty, it’s not an incubator.”