Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City

HAVING A CULTURE OF RISK AVERSION

A local culture of risk aversion is another classical inhibitor of startup communities. As I travel around the United States, I often hear from people that they are afraid of investing time in their startup community because they are afraid there won’t be a payoff. This generally comes in two forms: (1) a concern about investing your time in something that doesn’t have impact, and (2) fear of rejection by other leaders in the startup community.

In the first case, I encourage people to take more chances but give their effort time boundaries. Great entrepreneurs try lots of things that don’t end up working. If you have an idea or initiative that is interesting to you, just get started. If, after a few months, it isn’t going anywhere, you’ve lost interest in it, or you’re having trouble getting others to engage, take that as a signal that the initiative isn’t working in its current form. You then have two choices: change it or kill it. In either case, you are moving on to the next iteration of the idea. Rather than being concerned about wasting your time, make sure you learn something from what didn’t work.

In the case of fear of rejection by other leaders in the startup community, let it go. The more people in the startup community who step up and try things, the more the startup community will be open to people trying things. If you have a patriarch problem in your community, just ignore the existing hierarchy. If your initiative doesn’t work, try ...