Dug Song may have helped to grow — and then eventually sell — a tech startup in Southeast Michigan. He has serious doubts, however, about the region's ability to compete in the broader, global economy.

Song still works full time as the co-founder and general manager of Duo Security, which began in Ann Arbor before being acquired in 2018 by San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco Systems Inc., of which it is now a business unit.

Duo Security started in Ann Arbor and the city remains the cybersecurity firm's headquarters, but it's no longer the location where the 900-person company is expanding.

Rather, it's the Sun Belt technology hub of Austin, Texas, that now stands as Duo Security's fastest-growing office.

The challenge with Ann Arbor, Song said, is a dearth of commercial office space and a governing mentality that the entrepreneur views as adverse to growth.

"Yes, we could have found more space in Ann Arbor, but Ann Arbor is not a city built for growth, and right now it's dominated by the City Council that doesn't understand how to do that right," Song told Crain's in an interview late last month. "It's a problem, and so we decided to move down to Austin just because they are building up. They've got room, they have a startup community to draw from. It's been great."

But beyond struggles to grow in Ann Arbor, Song sees no shortage of other public policy issues facing the city of Detroit, the Southeast Michigan region and the state as a whole. He's quick to note that his public policy positions are his alone and don't necessarily reflect those of the Silicon Valley software giant that acquired his company for $2.35 billion.

Top of mind for the 44-year-old entrepreneur: the state's struggling K-12 education system, the region's lack of integrated mass transit and a culture that he says inhibits a more robust startup community in the metro Detroit area and the broader state.

Song is on record about his support of higher taxes to pay for some of these items.

He points to Minnesota as a state that he believes gets it right when it comes to funding education and infrastructure, while still being a friendly state for big business.

"And yes, that takes taxes. And you know what? None of those Fortune 100 [Minnesota] headquartered businesses care," Song said. "They love it, right, because it's great if you're trying to hire people with families. It's a huge opportunity. I mean, Minneapolis is an amazing city, right? We just need to take care of our physical environment and take care of our people and we'll be good."

To be sure, Song certainly sounds like a guy close to launching a political career, but said that's not in the cards.

"Hell no," Song said when asked whether he might jump into politics, adding that he intends to continue running Duo Security for the foreseeable future.