Startup Ecosystems Fail Because of Investors
Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Yes, I meant what I said in that headline… let’s see if I can back it up. In my conversation with Bryan Hancock on Executive Connect, I pulled back the curtain on the startup mythology that’s selling cities, founders, and investors a false bill of goods. We don’t need more accelerators. We need people who
- Published in Economic Development, Startups
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How Media Distorts the Truth About Regional Ecosystems – Apparently Austin is on Life Support
Tuesday, 27 May 2025
There’s a reason the phrase “don’t believe everything you read” never dies. Because even when it’s printed in The Wall Street Journal, a brand so synonymous with business credibility that your uncle still calls it “The Paper,” the story can be skewed, shallow, and — let’s not mince words — wrong. In this case, we’re
- Published in Startup Ecosystems, Texas Startups
SX Sideways: More to Changing SXSW than Condensing the Weekends
Tuesday, 18 March 2025
For those unfamiliar, SXSW is rather unique in the world for being far more than a conference, trade show, or film or music festival — it’s an economic engine, a cultural touchstone, and, arguably, the defining force that made Austin a global hub for innovation and creativity. But in 2025, something felt… off. The conference,
- Published in Conferences / Events
How the Irish Saved Entrepreneurship
Monday, 17 March 2025
Thomas Cahill’s How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe is an audacious retelling of history — one that challenges the Eurocentric narratives that typically glorify Rome and dismiss Ireland as a peripheral player. Published in 1995, the book argues
- Published in Regional Development
Texas Drops a Bigger, Better Blueprint: Why the World Should Take Notes (and Copy It)
Friday, 07 March 2025
What if a state decided to flex its economic muscle so hard that it made entire countries blush? Welcome to Texas in 2025, where Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Economic Development & Tourism Office (EDT) just dropped a 150+ page love letter to ambition titled Bigger. Better. Texas. — a five-year strategic Texas economic
- Published in Economic Development, Regional Development
Portugal’s Entrepreneurial Revolution: Why Startups and Innovation Thrive (And What Needs to Change)
Monday, 03 March 2025
A Country Built on Bold Exploration and Innovation Portugal’s legacy as a global pioneer began long before the word “startup” existed. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Lisbon was the Silicon Valley of its time, launching a wave of global exploration that transformed commerce, navigation, and trade. With figures like Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand
- Published in Regional Development
Quantum or Bust: The Playbook for Post-Silicon Economic Dominance
Friday, 21 February 2025
Earlier this week, Philip Farah, VP of sales, industries and strategic relationships for IonQ and William Hurley (aka whurley), CEO and founder of Strangeworks, joined The Texas Tribune‘s Matthew Watkins in their new series, “Tech and the Texas Lege,” examining how Texas can leverage emerging technologies — like artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and quantum computing —
- Published in Economic Development, Quantum