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The UK has the Most Startup Accelerators Per Capita; And…?

Friday, 24 April 2026 by Paul O'Brien

This is one of those articles that you don’t really want to write but you know needs to be written. An observation that will frustrate some, anger others, and more likely than not, draw ire toward me because there is no way to point this out without criticism, here we go. Grab yourself a cup

Published in Regional Development, Startup Ecosystems

35 Comments

Bootstrapped Startups Don’t Win More Often; You’re Reading the Data Wrong

Tuesday, 21 April 2026 by Paul O'Brien

Every few months, some founder-influencer reposts a chart “proving” that bootstrapped startups succeed at higher rates than venture-backed ones, and a thousand frustrated founders forward it like scripture. Occasionally, I’ll get into an impassioned discussion there, trying to help everyone understand what’s really going on, why everyone is frustrated with VC, and how misinterpretations are

angel investors bootstrap bootstrapping funding fundraise venture capital

Published in Insights / Research, Startups

13 Comments

The Entrepreneurship in Texas Biosciences

Wednesday, 15 April 2026 by Paul O'Brien

On the heels of my return from Phoenix Biosciences Core and a talk about the Arizona startup ecosystem, Texas announces ARPA-H funding, Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health supporting transformative biomedical and health breakthroughs. It didn’t luck into it with a last-minute pitch deck and a prayer. Four major cities put aside their egos, formed

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Published in Biosciences, healthcare, Regional Development, Texas Startups

29 Comments

Phoenix Not Copying Silicon Valley is the Winning Lesson

Monday, 13 April 2026 by Paul O'Brien

Ninety percent of startups fail, and the standard response from the startup industry encouragement because we “learn from failure.” The work I do in legislative affairs and ecosystem development is oriented precisely to improving that number, and a recent trip to Phoenix reminded me that the cities doing interesting things are not the ones trying

arizona biosciences healthcare healthtech life sciences phoenix

Published in Regional Development

25 Comments

Sprezzatura: The Art of Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

Friday, 10 April 2026 by Paul O'Brien

I sat across from a founder last week who spent the first eight minutes of his pitch explaining how hard everything had been. The fundraising was brutal, their cofounder quit, and the product pivoted three times. By minute ten he finally got to the business. Had I been at my best, I would have cut

imposter syndrome

Published in Startups

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Baltimore Is Not Waiting for Permission to Be a Startup City

Monday, 06 April 2026 by Paul O'Brien

Samuel Morse’s first telegraph message, sent from Washington to Baltimore’s Mount Clare Station in 1844, asked, “What hath God wrought?” Nearly two centuries later, Baltimore is still wroughting. The city gave us the first commercial railroad, the first dental school, the bottle cap, the Linotype machine, rubber surgical gloves, and the national anthem has now

baltimore dc economic development ecosystems maryland

Published in Regional Development

1 Comment

You Can’t Buy an MVP

Wednesday, 01 April 2026 by Paul O'Brien

The average cost of building an MVP is $0. You read that correctly. Not “$0 if you squint,” not “$0 with an asterisk.” Zero dollars. Let me restate it clearly since I keep getting asked, “How much does it cost to build an MVP?” Nothing. If you’re uncertain of that answer, we have more evidence

Lean Startup mvp validation

Published in Startups

2 Comments