Working With Austin
Tuesday, 05 March 2013
As SXSW creeps upon us, I’ve spent the last few months considering how exceptionally Austin has communicated to the world that this is the place to live and work. It’s not just hard to disagree, it’s downright impossible: with exceptionally low unemployment rates, incredible business incentives provided by the city and state, a creative and
Removing Barriers to Scale – Marketing Before Raising Capital
Monday, 28 January 2013
As an entrepreneur raising capital, you expect the inevitable question about growth. From where are you going to acquire customers? Such a question, though expected and appropriate, is as laden with ignorance as the typical answers. At the end of the day, no one needs to know how, nor model from, where you will acquire
- Published in Startups
How the Internet Failed to Change Our Lives
Saturday, 29 December 2012
Wrapping up this year and having spent some incredible time with an amazingly diverse set of innovations (and innovators), I starting wondering if and how the internet has really failed to deliver on its promise. One of the sobering realities of a capitalistic economy is that the almighty dollar, indeed, causes tremendous innovations, services, and
- Published in Industry
The Cost of Entrepreneurship in Your Community
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
Having spent a couple years now in Austin, and the previous 12 in Silicon Valley, a frequent topic of discussion over drinks or dinner is the question of how entrepreneurship works. Not “Startups” per se, at least not in the context that we think of them when reading about all the innovation on TechCrunch; rather,
- Published in Economic Development, Featured, Startup Ecosystems, Startups
airbnb for Entrepreneurs
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Without a doubt, one of the most exceptional new services brought to us by the interweb is airbnb. An incredibly obvious service (in hindsight); the website connects people with unique spaces that can serve as an accommodation, to travelers looking a distinct, personal, and comfortable experience. As they put it, “Airbnb connects people to unique