We Already Know How to Do This: Stop Reinventing Startup Development Organizations
Friday, 11 July 2025
Recently, someone asked me, “How do you make a training center for entrepreneurs to be self-sustaining and not just dependent on investors?” And I nearly threw a stapler. Not because the question isn’t valid, because it is, but because we’ve been answering it for decades. The model exists. It’s tested. It’s been done over and
- Published in Economic Development, Startups
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Stop Pitching Your Startup Like It’s a Science Fair Project
Monday, 07 July 2025
Nobody cares about your startup. And it’s not because they’re stupid, or you’re too early. It’s because you’re saying the wrong damn thing. I’ve learned through my own startup, as well as working with hundreds of founders through incubators, that the answer to your frustration with this is always the same. The problem founders always
- Published in Startups
Why is “Are startup founders different?” Still a Meaningful Question??
Thursday, 03 July 2025
It’s always amusing when mainstream media stumbles into a conversation the rest of us have been having for, oh, I don’t know… decades? This week, The Economist decided to pose the bold question: “Are startup founders different?” as if it’s some new frontier of behavioral science. Imagine walking into a neuroscience conference and breathlessly announcing
- Published in Insights / Research, Startups
You Don’t Need Traction. You Need to Understand Why They Say You Do.
Friday, 13 June 2025
There’s a special kind of eye twitch that founders get the 37th time they hear, “We’d love to invest, but you need more traction.” It’s a vague hand-wave of a dismissal that sounds helpful, but is really just cowardice in a hoodie. And when you ask what kind of traction they mean, they blink like
- Published in Insights / Research, Raising Capital, Startups
From Texas to Tulsa: How Innovation Shifts to Opportunity
Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Differentiation If someone told you Tulsa was the next hub for startups, your first reaction might be to squint and wonder if they meant it ironically. Tulsa? Really? Isn’t that where Route 66 nostalgia and oil wealth go to retire? Here’s the thing: the people still asking that question are the same ones who laughed
- Published in Regional Development
New Collar Jobs and the Critical Distinction of Startups from Small Businesses
Thursday, 29 May 2025
Today at the Texas Venture Forum in Austin, TX, we had the honor of hearing from the 28th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Kelly Loeffler. Loeffler, a former business executive, co-owner of a WNBA team, and founder of a commodity exchange, now carries a unique blend of corporate, public, and policy experience to
- Published in Economic Development, Startups
Your Startup Without a Wedding Planner: Marriage Advice for Entrepreneurs
Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Most startups fail because their founders treat launching a company more like hooking up on Tinder than getting married. It’s all adrenaline, pitch decks, and “minimum viable commitment.” Seriously, we have Speed Dating and Founder Dating… The reality is that if you planned your startup like people plan their weddings, months of agonizing over details,
- Published in Startups