entrepreneurship Archives - Startup Economist

The Best and Potential States for Startups: A Policy-First Look at Who’s Helping Founders

Monday, 09 March 2026 by Paul O'Brien

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

Published in Economic Development

5 Comments

What if the Poorest Places Are Actually the Best Places to Start a Startup Right Now?

Friday, 06 March 2026 by Paul O'Brien

I was asked this past week, by someone in a very economically challenged city, how they can start something without the resources so many others have when starting out. Data on this is more encouraging than the startup world wants to admit so the question drove me to want to help make sure everyone knows

economic development ecosystem entrepreneurship rural underserved

Published in Economic Development

32 Comments

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

bill gurley book books education entrepreneurship parenting

Published in Insights / Research, Startups

14 Comments

Energy Is the Startup Resource That Actually Matters

Friday, 27 February 2026 by Paul O'Brien

And no, I don’t mean your Series A. Some wonderful conversations lately about energy. That it connects all things… that it’s the origin of the universe… that matching frequency is how people find partners, close friends, and love. There’s a word that gets thrown around startup ecosystems like cocktails at a launch party – passion

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Published in Startups

7 Comments

The Second Time Around

Monday, 16 February 2026 by Paul O'Brien

In my last piece, The Startup of You, I wrote about how the real venture we’re building isn’t the company, it’s ourselves. As our long weekend comes to an end, my parents boarded a flight home after visiting; and as my daughter steps into new projects and fresh chapter of her own, my mind turned

entrepreneurship founders founding startups

Published in Startups

11 Comments

American Pie and the Moment Every Founder Loses the Music

Tuesday, 03 February 2026 by Paul O'Brien

Don McLean’s American Pie is usually shared as an elegy for rock ’n’ roll and American innocence. It’s a song with tremendous meaning to me, sung as a group while my high school class graduated, I went to study the lyrics and history in college, teaching myself how to build and website (then with notepad,

american pie don mclean entrepreneurship failure founders music startups

Published in Fun, Startups

9 Comments

Government Doesn’t Create Wealth, It Decides Whether Entrepreneurs Can

Monday, 26 January 2026 by Paul O'Brien

From the freezing tundra of Austin, Texas, this weekend I was asked, “Is it true that the U.S. became a leading industrial power through entrepreneurship, innovation, and mass production, creating immense wealth?” and it struck me that this city being quiet on a Monday when the northern part of the United States is at work,

entrepreneurship government growth policy public policy

Published in Economic Development

17 Comments