Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City

154 Pages·2012·1.08 MB·English

by  Brad Feld

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

Cover illustrations: Silhoueted figure: © Leontura/istockphoto; Silhoueted
women and man: © edge69/istockphoto; City Background: C. Wallace Cover
design: C. Wallace Copyright © 2012 by Brad Feld. All rights reserved.
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Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Feld, Brad.
Startup communities : building an entrepreneurial ecosystem in your city / Brad
Feld.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-118-44154-1 (cloth); 978-1-118-48333-6 (ebk); 978-1-118-48330-5
(ebk); 978-1-118-48331-2 (ebk) 1. Entrepreneurship. 2. New business
enterprises—Environmental aspects. 3. Communities—Social aspects. I. Title.
HB615.F45 2012
658.1'1—dc23
2012028586