Economic Development Archives - Startup Economist

Aerospace Adelaide

Monday, 30 June 2025 by Paul O'Brien

Adelaide’s not merely dipping a toe into space, it’s building its own launchpad, and during a recent whirlwind tour of the United States, I had a chance to share some thoughts with a few of the startups making the rounds and decided to dig in deeper to some possibilities. Under the radar, this ecosystem has

Published in Aerospace, Regional Development, Startup Ecosystems, Uncategorized

No Comments

Why Cities Should Invest in Startups: The Key to Economic Growth

Wednesday, 25 June 2025 by Paul O'Brien

Why Startups? Let’s Distinguish Why City Officials Should be Focused on Strategic Investment in Innovation-Driven Ventures (and why most are failing despite trying) It’s one of the most misunderstood yet consequential distinctions in economic development today: the difference between startups and small businesses. Cities talk about “entrepreneurship” like it’s a monolithic idea, but if we’re

ecosystems government investing public affairs public policy regulation startups

Published in Economic Development, Startup Ecosystems

39 Comments

Building a Tough Tech Venture Studio

Tuesday, 17 June 2025 by Paul O'Brien

Welcome to the frontier of innovation that doesn’t get VC Twitter likes or SXSW panels, the mud-covered, steel-reinforced, and sometimes radioactive frontier of “Tough Tech” (my word, I’m trying to come up with something to distinguish not-consumer, not-university, not just-apps). This isn’t SaaS, crypto, or your fourth AI wrapper for ChatGPT, this is the real

accelerators economic development ecosystems incubators venture builders venture studios

Published in Economic Development, Startups

57 Comments

Abilene Grit, Grid, and Genesis

Tuesday, 10 June 2025 by Paul O'Brien

Abilene, Texas, on the surface, might seem like the set of Fallout where a now-restored Texas Film Industry needs a set for a post-apocalyptic Western — a flat, dusty military town with a church on every corner and a Dairy Queen next to it. Scratch that desert veneer (and lack of nuclear fallout) and you’ll

abilene agtech cleantech ecosystem electricity energy grit stargate texas wind

Published in AI, Data, Regional Development

20 Comments

From Texas to Tulsa: How Innovation Shifts to Opportunity

Wednesday, 04 June 2025 by Paul O'Brien

Differentiation If someone told you Tulsa was the next hub for startups, your first reaction might be to squint and wonder if they meant it ironically. Tulsa? Really? Isn’t that where Route 66 nostalgia and oil wealth go to retire? Here’s the thing: the people still asking that question are the same ones who laughed

creativity economic development ecosystem entrepreneurship oklahoma silicon valley startups texas tulsa

Published in Regional Development

10 Comments

AI Runs on Yesterday’s Hardware — Quantum Writes Tomorrow’s Policy; The Quantum Playbook

Monday, 02 June 2025 by Paul O'Brien

If artificial intelligence is the engine of the future, then quantum computing is the fuel. In the United States, Washington is waking up to that fact. While the headlines are still dominated by chatbots impersonating therapists and AI models hallucinating their way through customer service, the grownups in this room (policymakers, scientists, and defense analysts)

economic development government legislation public policy quantum computing regulation security

Published in Economic Development, Quantum

6 Comments

New Collar Jobs and the Critical Distinction of Startups from Small Businesses

Thursday, 29 May 2025 by Paul O'Brien

Today at the Texas Venture Forum in Austin, TX, we had the honor of hearing from the 28th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Kelly Loeffler. Loeffler, a former business executive, co-owner of a WNBA team, and founder of a commodity exchange, now carries a unique blend of corporate, public, and policy experience to

entrepreneurship government public policy sba united states white paper

Published in Economic Development, Startups

14 Comments