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Optimism Is Killing You: Founders Need a Professional Skeptic
Optimism Is Killing You: Founders Need a Professional Skeptic Startup founders in nascent ecosystems get a lot of encouragement. That is not a bad thing. Starting a company is hard. There are plenty of days when nothing seems to work, customers disappear, technology breaks, funding gets tight, and the team starts questioning whether the whole…
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Being Busy is Not the Same as Successfully Launching Startups
Being Busy is Not the Same as Successfully Launching Startups Being busy is not the same as building my startup, and I really want to start there because I learned that the hard way. For a long time, I thought that if my calendar was full, my inbox was overflowing, and I was constantly switching…
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Amazing Tech Founders Find Answers Faster
Amazing Tech Founders Find Answers Faster The dangerous idea I hear floating around entrepreneurship: the founder is supposed to know everything. The founder should know the market, the technology, the customer, the competition, how to raise money, how to build a team, how to set prices, how to sell the product, and somehow predict what…
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When Gatekeepers Confuse Authority With Competence
When Gatekeepers Confuse Authority With Competence Every community has gatekeepers. They may control funding, introductions, information, jobs, access to government, media attention, or entry into important networks. Some hold formal titles. Others influence because they have been around for years and know the right people. Gatekeepers are not always harmful. Healthy systems need people who…
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From Small-City Cliques to Institutional Tribalism
From Small-City Cliques to Institutional Tribalism At first glance, Tucson’s startup ecosystem and the global response to COVID-19 seem to have little in common. One involves founders, universities, investors, mentors, and community groups in a mid-sized city. The other involved governments, public-health agencies, scientists, media companies, technology platforms, pharmaceutical companies, and billions of people. The…
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BIG DANGERS of Institutional Tribal Behavior Exposed by COVID-19
Big Dangers of Institutional Tribal Behavior Exposed by COVID-19 WHO THE FLIP DO YOU THINK YOU WERE? The most disturbing lesson of the COVID-19 pandemic may not be that government officials made mistakes. Mistakes were inevitable. A new virus was spreading, hospitals feared collapse, data were incomplete, and leaders had to act before every fact…
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Tired of Talking… Time to Do and Show.
Tired of Talking… Time to Do and Show. One person can change a neighborhood. One entrepreneur can change an ecosystem. Recently, I watched a story about a Tucson resident who grew tired of hearing people talk about solving the city’s water problems. Instead of waiting for someone else to act, he decided to build a…
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Small City Cliques Suck the Life Out of You
Small City Cliques Suck the Life Out of You Tucson is Not Immune Let’s get something straight. Tucson, Arizona, “Optics Valley,” is not an unfriendly place. People are approachable, conversations start easily, and there’s a genuine sense that people want to help. On the surface, it feels open. But if you’re a founder, an innovator,…
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The Axiom of the Nascent Startup Ecosystem
The Axiom of the Nascent Startup Ecosystem “Protect what little we have, trust only our own, and unintentionally ensure nothing larger ever emerges.” Let’s unpack that because this is where ecosystems quietly stall. A lesson from the movie (Jerry and Marge Go Large): Your pie doesn’t matter… It’s the people that matter. So what are…
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Nascent Startup Ecosystem… Time to Grow Up
Nascent Startup Ecosystem… Time to Grow Up A startup ecosystem is more than a collection of companies. It is a living system shaped by mindset, behavior, and trust. The difference between a nascent ecosystem and an advanced one is not just funding or infrastructure; it is how people show up and work together. Nascent Startup…
Category: Ecosystem
Recent Posts
- Everybody Else Is Doing It: The Most Dangerous Words in Business
- Optimism Is Killing You: Founders Need a Professional Skeptic
- Being Busy is Not the Same as Successfully Launching Startups
- Amazing Tech Founders Find Answers Faster
- The Most Expensive AI Mistake? Draining Your Institutional Knowledge on a Whim.
