Economic Development Archives - Page 5 of 11

Does a University like Stanford Produce more Successful Startups? This Might be Why

Friday, 05 April 2019 by Paul O'Brien

Culture. It all, always, comes down to the culture of community. Why does Silicon Valley produce startups differently than elsewhere? Why does Hollywood have a style and way about their films that really isn’t replicated elsewhere? Why is Arizona State University a “party school” that produces highly social people? As entrepreneurs, we like to THINK

Published in Insights / Research, Regional Development, Startups

16 Comments

How the “Bootstrap Culture” of a Place like Austin Changes Entrepreneurship From an “Equity Culture” of a Place Like Silicon Valley

Tuesday, 27 November 2018 by Paul O'Brien

Bootstrap or VC? It’s a question on so many minds as entrepreneurship flourishes beyond Silicon Valley, in cities where venture capital seems inaccessible. It’s a question that not a day goes by in which it doesn’t come up for me, based in Austin, TX, having professional roots along Sand Hill Road. What strikes me as

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Published in Insights / Research, Regional Development, Startups

14 Comments

When an Economy needs Co-Founders – And Seems to have a Tech Talent Gap

Tuesday, 11 September 2018 by Paul O'Brien

A characteristic of local economies that I never experienced much before leaving Palo Alto, California: “we can’t find co-founders!” Many know that I’ve spent half of my professional life in Silicon Valley and the other half in the new economy’s most appealing innovation region: Central Texas. I’ve touched a few times on the stark differences

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Published in Startup Ecosystems, Startups

19 Comments

Conspire to Change Austin Startups

Friday, 11 August 2017 by Paul O'Brien

Peter Thiel, notable by way of PayPal, Founders Fund, and Zero to One, if you’re not familiar, noted once that, “a great company is a conspiracy to change the world.” I was honored recently to be asked by one of Austin’s great mentors and investors, Ryan Merket, to keynote Amazon’s AWS Startup Day in Austin.

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Published in Startups, Texas Startups

16 Comments

The Vision For Austin

Wednesday, 08 March 2017 by Paul O'Brien

You know that licking of your lips and grasping at air that one does when trying to put in to words a dream. How you think through, as you’re talking with someone, something you just can’t quite simplify. What I’m thinking about is not a dream but a vision. Something magical is happening by way

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Published in Brand Marketing, Texas Startups

52 Comments

Where are Austin’s Venture Capital Firms?

Tuesday, 03 May 2016 by Paul O'Brien

Of late I’ve been exploring, discussing, and working with Austin’s venture capital economy. We’ll not belabor the ongoing discussions of the state of venture capital, lack of funding, future of financing, and otherwise here; rather, what struck me as potentially helpful is a mere layout of where venture capital is found. Certainly, before we can

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Published in Industry, Insights / Research, Raising Capital, Texas Startups

17 Comments

Why Where Matters

Monday, 09 November 2015 by Paul O'Brien

Some time ago, I shared some thoughts about how the size and scope of Silicon Valley eludes most entrepreneurs. That, challenging most startup communities, is the fact that comparing and contrasting one’s local economy to “Silicon Valley” easily misleads, as N. California’s startup community is much more than a city, more than a region even,