Earlier this month, I began a life experiment to see what it would be like to return to Pittsburgh after nearly three decades elsewhere.
What brought me here was the innovation that seemed to be transforming my hometown from a working-class city to a technology center. My own business, based in the New York City area, helps companies like AT&T, Chase and Amazon.com Inc. sell products and services more effectively by telling better stories.
I came here looking for Pittsburgh’s story. Halfway through the experiment, I’m still unable to find it.
It’s not like I haven’t tried. I rented a temporary office in a building mostly occupied by Google, arranged meetings with those I perceived to be the movers and shakers, and put my face on banner ads and even a billboard in search of connections.
Don’t get me wrong, The Pittsburgh Test has been consequential. My wife and I have reconnected with old friends, made a bunch of new ones and fallen back in love with the city. Within a week we were sold, and on Day 15 we bought a townhouse on the South Side. We’ll be hosting Thanksgiving in our Pittsburgh home, and I’ll be moving Joe Zeff Design Inc. to Pittsburgh.
Professionally, I’m not yet seeing the door through which newcomers enter. The innovation that enticed me is clearly happening. I see new buildings everywhere, but no peepholes. There doesn’t seem to be a way to peer inside, figuratively or literally, to better understand who is ideating on what, and to be inspired. I’ve found no alternative but to force myself on complete strangers to find out what they do, and I’m so glad that I have. I’ve met amazing people doing amazing things, and it has convinced me that my business can be just as successful, if not more successful, operating from Pittsburgh.
As reported by the Business Times, venture capital investment is up nationwide but lagging here. Pittsburgh’s story remains blurry — and not just to me.
Now that I’m coming back, I hope I can help change that.
Joe Zeff is the president of Joe Zeff Design Inc. You can read more about his life experiment at thepittsburghtest.com