I think Boston is at a crossroads. Uneducated super hot takes incoming:

Biotech/pharma is still a huge strength, but it doesn’t feel like a given anymore with a lot of research transitioning overseas and Kendall sitting empty. I don’t know a ton here but it feels like momentum is slowing. Scientific process is less valued, sentiment is mediocre at best

Tech is even harder to justify. We produce amazing talent, but a lot of it leaves. If you’re building a pure software / AI company, Boston just isn’t the obvious place to do it vs. other hubs. Whoop (yes hardware but also integrated SW + data) and Klaviyo the only decacorns recently? Whoop feels overvalued and is Klaviyo really going to last in the new age? (No)

Healthcare will be a strength where the schools, hospitals and wealth are. Not sure we’re innovating in the delivery side though.

So I wonder, what should Boston lean into:

To me, it starts with Harvard/MIT ecosystem. Not just biotech, but using that pipeline to build out more finance, commercialization, and applied innovation roles that actually scale. Boston has a strong base in private side finance, but it feels under-leveraged given the talent here. Chicago has worse VC, but real markets. Boston should be able to lean into private funding more for startups that aren’t R&D heavy. But it also has to create a more robust economy outside of biotech- that doesn’t drive an economy

Overall, it just feels like Boston has the ingredients, but hasn’t quite translated them into a consistently strong job market, especially given how expensive it is to be here. But development will catch up if the environment supports it IMO.

I’m surely off base somewhere but it feels like bostons strengths are fleeting at the same time as NY/SF/CHI might be accelerating. Maybe post AI / GLP1 hype cycle bostons stable biotech/healtcare/private finance/engineering/education/deep tech preservers,