Topics - Page 4 of 108

The Startup Framework: A Better Pitch through Storytelling

Sunday, 29 March 2026 by Paul O'Brien

You learned something in elementary school that ruined your ability to communicate as a founder: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. That’s the order they taught you, and it’s wrong. Not wrong in the sense that those aren’t the right questions (they are, and they’re the First Principle questions that matter), but wrong in

Published in Startups

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Your Startup Has a Story Problem

Wednesday, 25 March 2026 by Paul O'Brien

Congratulations! You have a pitch deck. So does every other founder about to fail. Provocation aside, let’s take that thought seriously, that roughly 90% of startups die, and the overwhelming majority of those dead ventures had a pitch deck, went through an accelerator, followed a template, and still couldn’t get anyone to care. CB Insights

narrative design pitch deck pitching startup narrative storytelling

Published in Startups

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Nice Is Different Than Good: What Founders Learn Too Late

Monday, 23 March 2026 by Paul O'Brien

Every founder goes into the woods. We hike into a psychological space where the rules of the ordinary world stop applying, where the things you believed about yourself and your market get tested by forces you didn’t anticipate, and where coming home means becoming someone you can’t fully explain to the people who watched you

failure founders journey hero's journey monomyth

Published in Startups, Uncategorized

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I Wrote the Book on Startup Ecosystems. Austin Technology Council’s CEO Wanted the Full Story.

Thursday, 19 March 2026 by Paul O'Brien

I have a lot of conversations about the economy. In conference rooms, in government offices, at accelerator demo days, at city halls from Austin to Zagreb. Most of them end the same way: everyone in the room nods, someone says, “this is exactly what we needed to hear,” and then little changes. We need to

book startup economy startup ecosystems tech councils technology councils trade associations

Published in Austin, Economic Development

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I Wrote the Book I Needed to Read Twenty Years Ago

Tuesday, 17 March 2026 by Paul O'Brien

There is a moment, somewhere between finishing a manuscript and holding the printed thing in your hands, when you realize the book was never really about the subject. It was about you. Not in the self-indulgent sense, not a memoir dressed up in economics. But in the sense that everything I have spent the last

book community economic development ecosystem ecosystems startup communities startup economies

Published in Economic Development, Featured, Startup Ecosystems

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Founder Burnout or the Wrong Fuel?

Sunday, 15 March 2026 by Paul O'Brien

Days into SXSW, eyes look weary and voices are starting to gravel. Leading up to major events like this one, there are always a host of livestream events, blog posts, and newsletters (my own included) offering suggestions to make the most of the experience; now I’m awake in the middle of the night thinking about

burnout entrepreneurship founders motivation

Published in Startups

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Founders Can’t Scale What Government Won’t: Policy Infrastructure Entrepreneurship Needs

Wednesday, 11 March 2026 by Paul O'Brien

At SXSW 2026? We’ll be convening a Tech + Policy Meetup at Cosmic Saltillo, Sunday, March 15th at 2 pm – RSVP Here If you work in economic development, run a government affairs office, manage a legislative portfolio, or sit in any room where startup policy gets discussed, tune in. The people with the most

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Published in Economic Development

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