Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City

STARTUP AMERICA PARTNERSHIP

The activities in Boulder, Iceland, and Omaha are now playing out regularly in cities through the United States and the world. In early 2011, in conjunction with an initiative from the White House called Startup America, a group of private individuals, foundations, and corporations launched the Startup America Partnership (http://startuprev.com/n0). I’ve been involved since the original inception of the idea in mid-2010 and today the Startup America Partnership incorporates many of the concepts of the Boulder Thesis and other ideas discussed in this book.

Shortly after it was created, Scott Case, the CEO, realized that a bottom-up approach was more powerful than a top-down approach. Donna Harris, the managing director of Startup Regions, Scott, and the team at the Startup America Partnership began an initiative to create a “Startup America Partnership” region in every state in the United States. Startup Colorado, which I co-chair, was one of the first regions to get created. Following, in Scott and Donna’s words, are the attributes of a startup community they are actively driving to create in every major city and state in the United States.

America has historically been a natural athlete when it comes to startups—every city and state has a rich legacy of companies created by bold and ambitious founders who saw opportunities others didn’t. Startups were the core driver to the cities’ success and to our national strength. But today, natural athleticism ...