‘Silicon Roundabout’ was what Matt Biddulph, of social network Dopplr, sarcastically dubbed the drab Old Street and City Road junction in July 2008. London’s fume-filled, concrete roundabout may not have had the glamour or scale of California’s Silicon Valley, but the label helped pinpoint a new generation of tech talent that included music site Last.fm and printworks Moo.com. Two and a half years later and the joke has worn thin. Comparisons with the sun-soaked US technology scene no longer feel relevant to a startup community that’s thriving in London and in pockets of energetic industry across the UK and Europe. That many of those businesses started up without government help might explain the suspicion towards David Cameron’s plans to create East London Tech City. “Our ambition is to bring together the creativity and energy of Shoreditch and the incredible possibilities of the Olympic Park to help make east London one of the world’s great technology centres,” said the prime minister in November. It sounded hard to argue with; superfast broadband, hubs set up by Facebook and Google and startup advice from McKinsey. But the idea seems to have deflated, perhaps punctured by indignation that Cameron is trying to claim some of the cool for himself. Joe White, chief executive of London-based web design service Moonfruit, says he thinks the government is missing the point: “If we need more grass roots, then large tech corporate sponsors are not the answer. Supporting local entrepreneurs who can inspire and support each other is the answer. Create more seed startups, allow more failures, start again then eventually you’ll have enough experienced, inspirational entrepreneurs to drive the startup community, and even start to drive the investment community.”