The Startup Community Way

CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTION

The last decade has been a transformational one for entrepreneurship throughout the world. The confluence of ubiquitous high-speed connectivity with inexpensive, powerful, and remote computing has dramatically lowered the cost of starting a digitally enabled business, allowing entrepreneurs to start new ventures in more places. In some parts of the world, capital available for startups is plentiful. In many others, it is still lacking. Consider Boston versus Orlando, or London compared to Caracas. Talent and technology are ubiquitous, but tangible opportunities are not.

The growth and geographic proliferation of innovation-driven startup activity is profound, empirically verifiable, and global in scope.¹ Today, we understand that communities of support and knowledge-sharing go hand in hand with other inputs and resources. The importance of collaboration and a long-term view has gained broad acceptance by entrepreneurs and startup community builders. These principles are at the forefront of the leadership behind many startup communities around the world.

Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City, published in 2012, is a significant reason for this shift in thinking. Using the example of Boulder, Colorado, Startup Communities provided practical guidance for entrepreneurs and other stakeholders to improve the startup community in their city. Unlike most other works on the subject, Startup Communities stressed the behavioral, ...