media Archives - Startup Economist

The Age of Artificial Truth

Thursday, 19 June 2025 by Paul O'Brien

If Orwell predicted a future of authoritarian oppression, we missed the plot twist: truth isn’t being silenced, it’s being distorted, mass-produced, and flooded upon us like a knock-off Rolex that still ticks. The root isn’t the Press nor Politicians, it’s not the White House or foreign influence, it’s everyone, all of us speaking at once,

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Published in AI, Insights / Research, Social Media

20 Comments

How Media Distorts the Truth About Regional Ecosystems – Apparently Austin is on Life Support

Tuesday, 27 May 2025 by Paul O'Brien

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

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Published in Startup Ecosystems, Texas Startups

21 Comments

How Substack Quietly Emerged as the Empirical Thinker’s Social Network

Thursday, 16 January 2025 by Paul O'Brien

It’s easy to miss a quiet revolution in a world dominated by the noisy chaos of Twitter threads, AI clickbait, and influencers slinging collagen gummies. But that’s exactly what Substack has pulled off, amidst the rise of AI content pushing audiences even more desperately in search of authenticity. What started as a niche newsletter platform

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Published in Social Media

21 Comments

Make America Texas Again

Tuesday, 12 November 2024 by Paul O'Brien

The story of the Alamo is one etched into the American consciousness, a tale of courage and defiance against overwhelming odds that has inspired generations. In 1836, Texian and Tejano defenders faced off against the Mexican army in a siege that would ultimately result in their tragic defeat. But the Alamo’s legacy transcended that single

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Published in Economic Development, Industry

42 Comments

Media is Capital: Startup Success Starts with Story and Community

Wednesday, 03 July 2024 by Paul O'Brien

Possessing a compelling story outweighs merely having a brilliant idea so much so that media has become the new capital for burgeoning founders. The fundamental concept here is that media — encompassing storytelling, audience engagement, and community building, well beyond what you might consider it to mean in “the press” — serves as a powerful

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Published in Social Media

7 Comments

Shaping the Media from the Oval Office

Wednesday, 01 December 2021 by Paul O'Brien

In October 2021 former president Donald Trump announced plans to launch Truth Social, a new social media platform very popularly discussed and debated by traditional media and politically oriented people. “Galvanizing a conservative media universe,” he described this forthcoming network in his pitch deck as such, begging curiosity of if and why media plays a distinct and important

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Published in Industry, Insights / Research, Social Media

1 Comment

The Separation of Communiqué and State

Thursday, 05 November 2020 by Paul O'Brien

Perhaps our disappointment in one another, frustration with Presidential elections, and stress over 1 role in the entire world, isn’t a reflection of us, but of the office having too much power and influence. U.S. elections and the attention world leaders such as the President (any President), have in the last few decades, really drawn

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Published in Insights / Research

2 Comments