Startup Ecosystems Archives - Startup Economist

When Founders Need Referrals to Meet Investors, Fix This About Your Startup Ecosystem

Friday, 08 November 2024 by Paul O'Brien

In a well-functioning startup ecosystem, founders should know who their potential investors are and how to connect with them. In a supportive startup ecosystem, founders should know how to develop ventures that attract attention, supported by journalists and ecosystem leaders who promote fundable startups, so that investors engage them. Yet, we often see founders struggling

Published in Raising Capital, Startup Ecosystems

16 Comments

How the 2025 White House Could Shape a Bold Economy for Startups and Innovators

Wednesday, 06 November 2024 by Paul O'Brien

With the dust still settling, I thought I’d wade into a precarious subject because I believe this Presidential election and the outcome were so substantial in what transpired, that humanity will be studying and evolving from it for generations to come. The 2024 season has been a dynamic intersection of ideologies and passions; as such,

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Published in Economic Development, Startup Ecosystems, Startups

30 Comments

Rethinking Startup Ecosystems to Build What Investors Really Want

Monday, 28 October 2024 by Paul O'Brien

In most of the world, startups are in disrepair. No more effectively can we just reboot or defrag a computer to actually fix it, than we can try again and again to host demo days, networking events, and run incubators, expecting different results, when there is a virus in the system. Begging the question, that,

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Published in Economic Development, Industry, Insights / Research, Local, Startup Ecosystems, Startups

42 Comments

Seek the Contrarian: What to Expect of a Good Entrepreneurship Program

Tuesday, 15 October 2024 by Paul O'Brien

In a speech in Paris, in 1910, Theodore Roosevelt remarked the often encouraged, “Comparison Is the Thief of Joy.” That, when we compare ourselves to others, we rob ourselves of our own happiness as, through comparison, we either feel a sense of inferiority or superiority. What we see in entrepreneurship and among founders is this

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Published in Insights / Research, Local, Startup Ecosystems, Startups

20 Comments

How Startup Ecosystem Builders Start Ecosystems

Tuesday, 10 September 2024 by Paul O'Brien

I’d bet, if you were to look to the ecosystem surrounding your work, you’d see some meetups, a local startup group on Facebook, a business or technology journalist at the newspaper as the person known for covering startups, some coworking spaces, and perhaps a distinct innovation hub supported by the City or Chamber, right in

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Published in Featured, Industry, Insights / Research, Startup Ecosystems, Startups

26 Comments

The 6 Considerations of the Economic Development of Startups

Thursday, 29 August 2024 by Paul O'Brien

In my work with cities throughout the world, guiding how to foster entrepreneurship, few realize or fully appreciate that the experiences of my life inform what works and what doesn’t, in a region of the world trying to help startups. Raised in Michigan, I spent years exposed to what it means to have a city

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Published in Economic Development, Featured, Insights / Research, Startup Ecosystems, Startups

11 Comments

Marketing and Storytelling Manifest a Startup City

Friday, 23 August 2024 by Paul O'Brien

The explosive growth of specific cities throughout the world might be the best evidence of the impact of good old-fashioned marketing. Not advertising mind you, but marketing: understanding what you have, for whom, why they care, and delivering that to them. The last 25 years or so have witnessed the transformation of our world from

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Published in Economic Development, Industry, Insights / Research, Startup Ecosystems

9 Comments