Many aspiring entrepreneurs across the country hardly consider Washington, D.C. as their go-to start-up launch pad, but the density of its entrepreneurial ecosystem actually makes it a better place to start a business than most believe.

One entrepreneur who has experienced first hand that D.C. is alive and flourishing with collaboration is Kevin Bennett, co-founder and CEO of HomeZen. Bennett recently developed HomeZen in an effort to help people in selling their homes without a real estate agent or unnecessary stress.

HomeZen is Bennett’s fourth home-grown start-up. Having lived a good portion of his life in D.C., he argues that the common perceptions of creative sparsity and lack of talent in the area are simply untrue.

“Everyone in this ecosystem is here to build and improve whatever aspect of the world they’re working on, so [D.C.] really has been a wonderful place for us to start HomeZen,” Bennett told What’s Working in Washington.

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Having already sold more than 20 homes, HomeZen has successfully saved their customers an average of $20,000 per sale. Bennett says his business is thriving and that he owes much of its success to the area in which he developed it.

“Our unfair advantage is being in D.C.,” says Bennett. “We are based here because we actually think it’s advantageous for us.” According to Bennett, there is no better place to be for someone looking to launch their own start-up.

“I think one of the great things about this ecosystem is it is such a wonderful group of people and they’re friendly, and they’re collegial, and they want to help,” says Bennett.

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