Topics - Page 3 of 92

Struggling? Network In Real Life.

Wednesday, 30 April 2025 by Paul O'Brien

I sat in the Texas Capitol this week, doing some legislative work, where a group of (probably) early 20-year-old staffers, having lunch, were talking about how and where to get to know more people. All, talking but on their phones, but what caught my attention was discussion of twitter, TikTok, some local venues, getting into

Published in Insights / Research, Social Media

21 Comments

Founders and Policymakers Need Us at the Table— Before They Decide the Future for Us

Monday, 21 April 2025 by Paul O'Brien

With my work increasingly entrenched in Washington, D.C., state capitols, and the public policy battles shaping entrepreneurship and venture capital, I’ve found myself staring down a familiar name in tech: Google. Again. For many of us, the latest antitrust accusations is déjà vu, about privacy, about data, and control – whether it’s Apple, Microsoft, X,

competition Google government innovation public policy regulation

Published in AI, Economic Development, Search

3 Comments

This Is Why It’s Critical to Our Economy That We Distinguish Startups from New Businesses

Friday, 11 April 2025 by Paul O'Brien

This might be among my most harsh criticisms of our economy, and I don’t write it lightly but rather because as time progresses, we can see more and more clearly how misrepresentation of focus, skills, and experience, actually harms entrepreneurs. Not All Failure is Created Equal And more importantly, not all failure is worthy of

advisors failure failures investors mentors new businesses startups

Published in Economic Development, Startup Ecosystems, Startups

30 Comments

If You’re Asking If You Can Start a Startup, We Know How Likely You Are to Fail — And It’s a Lot Worse Than the Average

Wednesday, 09 April 2025 by Paul O'Brien

This is one of those “I did the math” posts, and it might inspire you, but it could also discourage you so before I let you go on into the depths of discouragement, let me point out that what we’re exploring here is how to avoid failure – that, if the math prove that you’re

entrepreneurs entrepreneurship failure odds success validation

Published in Insights / Research, Startups

27 Comments

Belgian Startups, Immigration, and Why your Definition of Innovation is Wrong

Tuesday, 01 April 2025 by Paul O'Brien

Let’s make something clear before we get into it, this is a discussion of beer from the perspective of an entrepreneur and economist, to explain to you something critical to your startup ecosystem: “tech” is not code. It’s not apps, websites, VC-backed SaaS tools, or whatever spitting image of Silicon Valley nonsense is being peddled

alcohol startups austin beer startups belgium beverage startups europe innovation startups tech texas

Published in Startups

18 Comments

SX Sideways: More to Changing SXSW than Condensing the Weekends

Tuesday, 18 March 2025 by Paul O'Brien

For those unfamiliar, SXSW is rather unique in the world for being far more than a conference, trade show, or film or music festival — it’s an economic engine, a cultural touchstone, and, arguably, the defining force that made Austin a global hub for innovation and creativity. But in 2025, something felt… off. The conference,

austin conferences culture economic development festivals sxsw texas trade shows

Published in Conferences / Events

36 Comments

How the Irish Saved Entrepreneurship

Monday, 17 March 2025 by Paul O'Brien

Thomas Cahill’s How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe is an audacious retelling of history — one that challenges the Eurocentric narratives that typically glorify Rome and dismiss Ireland as a peripheral player. Published in 1995, the book argues

economic development ireland irish startups

Published in Regional Development

8 Comments