Andrew Watkins is the President and COO of Marketplace.city, a Chicago based startup building a marketplace to connect leading smart technology providers to governments, worldwide. What began with the question, “Why don't public sector buyers have a better way to discover and acquire technology solutions?" blossomed into a robust marketplace serving over 60 cities and hundreds of vendors. Marketplace.city has been recognized by The World Economic Forum, Governing Magazine, State Scoop, and was awarded the Innovative Idea Award at the 2017 Smart City Expo World Congress. In this conversation, we dive into… How tech procurement currently happens in most city governments The gap that Marketplace.city fills, enabling this process to happen faster and more effectively The team’s (Chris Foreman, Cameron Koczon) journey through building this company And as always, some comprehensive advice on how to learn more about and begin working in the smart city space For all the budding smart city entrepreneurs out there, this one’s for you - some great stories and advice on building a successful civic-tech oriented startup! Andrew can be reached at the following: LinkedIn, Twitter Enjoy the show! See more at https://www.theurbanloop.com/episode-15-andrew-watkins/ -- The Urban Loop podcast is brought to you in partnership with Billion or Bust Media. You can find the latest episodes and show notes at our website and socials below. The Urban Loop: Website, Twitter Billion or Bust Media: Website, Instagram