Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City

Table of contents

1. Cover
2. Contents
3. Title
4. Copyright
5. Dedication
6. Foreword
7. Preface
8. Acknowledgments
9. Chapter One: Introduction
   1. The Example of Boulder
   2. How this Book Works
10. Chapter Two: The Boulder Startup Community
    1. Boulder as a Laboratory
    2. Before the Internet (1970–1994)
    3. Pre-Internet Bubble (1995–2000)
    4. The Collapse of the Internet Bubble (2001–2002)
    5. The Beginning of the Next Wave (2003–2011)
    6. An Outsider’s View of Boulder
11. Chapter Three: Principles of a Vibrant Startup Community
    1. Historical Frameworks
    2. The Boulder Thesis
    3. Led by Entrepreneurs
    4. Long-Term Commitment
    5. Foster a Philosophy of Inclusiveness
    6. Engage the Entire Entrepreneurial Stack
12. Chapter Four: Participants in a Startup Community
    1. Entrepreneurs
    2. Government
    3. Universities
    4. Investors
    5. Mentors
    6. Service Providers
    7. Large Companies
    8. The Importance of Both Leaders and Feeders
13. Chapter Five: Attributes of Leadership in a Startup Community
    1. Be Inclusive
    2. Play a Non-Zero-Sum Game
    3. Be Mentorship Driven
    4. Have Porous Boundaries
    5. Give People Assignments
    6. Experiment and Fail Fast
14. Chapter Six: Classical Problems
    1. The Patriarch Problem
    2. Complaining About Capital
    3. Being Too Reliant on Government
    4. Making Short-Term Commitments
    5. Having a Bias Against Newcomers
    6. Attempt by a Feeder to Control the Community
    7. Creating Artificial Geographic Boundaries
    8. Playing a Zero-Sum Game
    9. Having a Culture of Risk Aversion
    10. Avoiding People Because of Past Failures
15. Chapter Seven: Activities and Events
    1. Young Entrepreneurs Organization
    2. Office Hours
    3. Boulder Denver New Tech Meetup
    4. Boulder Open Coffee Club
    5. Startup Weekend
    6. Ignite Boulder
    7. Boulder Beta
    8. Boulder Startupdigest
    9. Cu New Venture Challenge
    10. Boulder Startup Week
    11. Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado
16. Chapter Eight: The Power of Accelerators
    1. The Spread of Techstars to Boston and Seattle
    2. Techstars Expands to New York
    3. Accelerators are Different than Incubators
    4. University Accelerators
17. Chapter Nine: University Involvement
    1. Silicon Flatirons
    2. Some Components of CU Boulder
    3. Challenges to Entrepreneurship Programs at Universities
    4. Why they Don’t Work in Isolation
    5. The Real Value—Fresh Blood into the System
    6. The Power of Alumni
18. Chapter Ten: Contrasts between Entrepreneurs and Government
    1. Self-Aware Versus Not Self-Aware
    2. Bottom Up Versus Top Down
    3. Micro Versus Macro
    4. Action Versus Policy
    5. Impact Versus Control
19. Chapter Eleven: The Power of the Community
    1. Give Before You Get
    2. Everyone is a Mentor
    3. Embrace Weirdness
    4. Be Open to Any Idea
    5. Be Honest
    6. Go for a Walk
    7. The Importance of the After-Party
20. Chapter Twelve: Broadening a Successful Startup Community
    1. Parallel Universes
    2. Integration With the Rest of Colorado
    3. Lack of Diversity
    4. Space
21. Chapter Thirteen: Myths about Startup Communities
    1. We Need to Be Like Silicon Valley
    2. We Need More Local Venture Capital
    3. Angel Investors Must Be Organized
22. Chapter Fourteen: Getting Started
    1. Getting Startup Iceland Started
    2. Big Omaha
    3. Startup America Partnership
    4. Do or Do Not, There is No Try
23. About the Author
24. Index
25. AN EXCERPT FROM