book Archives - Startup Economist

I Wrote the Book on Startup Ecosystems. Austin Technology Council’s CEO Wanted the Full Story.

Thursday, 19 March 2026 by Paul O'Brien

I have a lot of conversations about the economy. In conference rooms, in government offices, at accelerator demo days, at city halls from Austin to Zagreb. Most of them end the same way: everyone in the room nods, someone says, “this is exactly what we needed to hear,” and then little changes. We need to

Published in Austin, Economic Development

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I Wrote the Book I Needed to Read Twenty Years Ago

Tuesday, 17 March 2026 by Paul O'Brien

There is a moment, somewhere between finishing a manuscript and holding the printed thing in your hands, when you realize the book was never really about the subject. It was about you. Not in the self-indulgent sense, not a memoir dressed up in economics. But in the sense that everything I have spent the last

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Published in Economic Development, Featured, Startup Ecosystems

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What It Means to Run Down a Dream

Tuesday, 03 March 2026 by Paul O'Brien

I once crossed paths with Bill Gurley, author and venture capitalist, so long ago and so briefly that I couldn’t reconstruct the details if I tried. The startup ecosystem was smaller then, known names were less frequent, and it was easier to recognize people; it was a lot like my experience in Austin as it

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Published in Insights / Research, Startups

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Book of the month club?

Thursday, 18 September 2008 by Paul O'Brien

Should I start one? I don’t read enough but I feel like I keep coming across books that are worth your while. We’ve taken a random walk through search about books, caught up with Lance Loveday, and even plugged a little ole book that features me (teehee!). I get a kick out of my Amazon

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Published in Analytics, Fun, Insights / Research, Vendors / Agencies

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How to Explain SEO to the Illiterate – the Library Analogy

Thursday, 27 December 2007 by Paul O'Brien

Having spent the past few days with family and friends for the Holiday, I repeatedly found myself in the situation of trying to explain search engine optimization and how websites are not simply ‘found’ through Google. Peppered with questions about how SEO is Marketing or why Google doesn’t just do a better job, I can

Published in Fun, Insights / Research, Natural Search / SEO

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A Random Walk Down Search

Monday, 02 April 2007 by Paul O'Brien

Interesting search results on Google today… I usually do my book shopping on Amazon. Having built a history of preferences over the years, I must admit, their recommendations alone keep me coming back for more. Today, I deviated from the norm while looking for James Surowiecki’s The Wisdom of Crowds and searched Google. If you

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Published in Search, Surplus

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