TechFire's Innovation Lab & Consultancy
TechFire's Innovation Lab melds best practices from San Francisco, London, New York, Los Angeles, and beyond to advise public & private consulting clients on:
Tech economic development strategy
Marketing/business development
Event planning, inviting speakers and attendees, & hosting events
We're proud of what we help clients achieve. Our longstanding partnership with the City of Burbank recently won them a statewide award from the California Association for Local Economic Development.
From California...
Pictured: TechFire CEO David Murphy moderates a discussion with Warner Bros Chief Digital Officer & Executive Vice President Thomas Gewecke, as part of the award winning Burbank Tech Talks series that we produce and host for the City of Burbank. Our partnership with the City resulted in their winning an award from the California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED) in 2017.
...to Virginia
Among our latest clients: the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, the largest non-state economic development agency in the nation.
...and More to Come!
At left: Deputy Mayor of London for Business Rajesh Agrawal (himself a fintech worth $100 million), with TechFire CEO David Murphy, meeting at London City Hall in 2017 to discuss potential future consulting for the Mayor of London's economic development agency.
Building on the success of TechFire's own events (recognized in Techmeme's list of nationally- & internationally significant tech events), TechFire consults for governments on economic development strategy and implementation, and for private companies to advance marketing and business development goals.
TechFire is backed by expertise from consulting for clients, as well as our own events, and our founder's expertise serving as as a public policy staffer for one of Los Angeles' leading business economic development and business advocacy associations, as well as experience running a policy group funded by tech billionaires Elon Musk and David Bohnett that drove coverage in the New York Times, Bloomberg, the Los Angeles Times (front page), and beyond.
Contact Us: contact TechFire CEO David Murphy at david@techfire.co to learn more about how to leverage our expertise, relationships, and mailing lists, to advise your city or company.
CASE STUDY: The City of Burbank
The City of Burbank, already a powerhouse as a Media Capital of the World, home to giants like The Walt Disney Company and Warner Brothers, hired TechFire to consult on attracting tech startups to the city.
“Thanks for making the event a big success!
Great work attracting high-caliber speakers from Silicon Valley and SoCal, and drawing in a big crowd from across the region.””
In 2015, Burbank's economic development department hired TechFire as a consultant plan a major Burbank Tech Summit. The event sold-out more than a week in advance, and featured speakers such as a venture capitalist from the Silicon Valley office of Charles River Ventures, the head of The Walt Disney Co & Techstars’ Disney Accelerator, and a panel of tech CEOs. The event also featured a reporter from NPR and Marketplace as a moderator.
Building on the success of the 2015 summit, in 2016, 2017, and 2018, Burbank has renewed TechFire's consulting contract, retaining us to organize a series of more than twelve events under the Burbank Tech Talks series, and with a second Burbank Tech Summit in the works. We've attracted high-caliber speakers, ranging from Warner Bros' Chief Digital Officer Thomas Gewecke, to Applied Minds founder Bran Ferren (perhaps best known for his TED Talk with a million views), and sold-out crowds -- and in the process, Burbank has attracted a WeWork coworking space, a sign of the ecosystem continuing to take off.
For all of these events, we leveraged our expertise and relationships to invite high profile speakers, plan and host the events, and to use our extensive mailing list to invite attendees.
CASE STUDY: Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati / Wharton | San Francisco
In addition to sponsoring fifteen TechFire events, Silicon Valley's leading law firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (WSGR), retained TechFire in a consulting capacity to assist with a joint WSGR / Wharton reception at the Fairmont Santa Monica. We advised on speaker selection and assisted with invitations.
Reports: STRENGTHENING LA'S TECH ECOSYSTEM
TechFire's L.A. Tech Agenda report featured economic development recommendations for strengthening the Los Angeles region's startup ecosystem, featuring lessons from San Francisco, New York City, and more.
PRAISE FROM THE LOS ANGELES MAYOR'S OFFICE: the report drew praise from L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Office (calling it "great" and "quite helpful"). The report was also covered by press such as Recode, Built in LA, SoCalTech, & LA Biz, among others.
Special thanks to our report sponsors, Cresa, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, The Montgomery Summit, Aon, and j2 Global.
We also produced the Guide to LA Tech, an overview of the key players in Los Angeles region's tech ecosystem.
ADVISING ON TECH POLICY
TechFire staff also participate (as a volunteer) in tech policy activities such as the World Economic Forum's Future of the Internet working group to help promote entrepreneurs' perspectives on the global policy stage.
LEARN MORE
To learn more about TechFire's consulting services, view our PDF brochure:
Get in touch: Contact David Murphy, CEO of TechFire, at david@techfire.co. We're based in Los Angeles, but serve clients around the country, and around the world.