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Now In Print: Startup Ecosystems

Founders Can’t Scale What Government Won’t: Policy Infrastructure Entrepreneurship Needs

Wednesday, 11 March 2026 by
At SXSW 2026? We’ll be convening a Tech + Policy Meetup at Cosmic Saltillo, Sunday, March 15th at 2 pm – RSVP Here If you work in economic development, run a government affairs office, manage a legislative portfolio, or sit in any room where startup policy gets discussed, tune in. The people with the most
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The Best and Potential States for Startups: A Policy-First Look at Who’s Helping Founders

Monday, 09 March 2026 by
If you ask most people which states are best for startups, they’ll rattle off California and New York because that’s where the money has historically pooled, understandably now too, Texas. That’s a bit like saying Las Vegas is a great place to build wealth because rich people go there. The concentration of capital in a
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The Texas Aerospace Space

Friday, 20 February 2026 by
Synonymous with space, Texas is far more than Houston being informed of a problem, and after an incredible tour of Firefly’s rocket facilities in Briggs, Texas, with Space Force Association, I needed to dig in. Texas got into aerospace the way Texas gets into anything: by building a messy, expensive, politically complicated machine that becomes
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Put a Bow on your Startup Ecosystem

Friday, 31 October 2025 by
If startup ecosystems were a fashion statement, most cities would look like clip on necktie that everyone admires for the good intention of dressing it up. In reality, we’ve overserved accelerators that don’t accelerate, misunderstood venture studios as glorified R&D departments, push university IP commercialization on a market that doesn’t want to license, and host
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How Real Ecosystems Outperform Hype: Startup Ecosystem Infrastructure

Friday, 24 October 2025 by
What if the problem isn’t that cities can’t build startups, what if the problem is they’re building the wrong kind of systems? In the frenzy to claim, “innovation district,” many regions forget the fundamentals: connections, capital-fit, customer access, and context. In a recent panel for Founder Institute, I brought together three ecosystem practitioners, Levi Velez
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Startups Draw Talent and Opportunity to Cities

Tuesday, 14 October 2025 by
What if I told you a city’s “magnetism” doesn’t begin with a Fortune 500 relocating its headquarters, but with a small, scrappy startup raising its first round? Let’s talk about smarter economic development. Cities that craft startup ecosystems don’t just chase large employers; they become destinations for opportunity, pulling in both job-seekers and job creators. Interestingly, I said
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How To vs. Experienced With: The Distinction of Startup or New Business

Monday, 06 October 2025 by
The opportunity isn’t that cities, chambers, and investors don’t support entrepreneurship, it’s that they have the chance to support the right kind in the right way. For decades, we’ve been celebrating every new idea in the same sandbox, mixing storefronts with startups, consultants with creators, and then wondering why only a few hold up when
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