Founders, Startups & Communities.

Is the net new jobs metric a leftover from days long gone? One integral segment of a mature startup community are the institutions in the region, which I define as colleges, universities, city/county/state/province/federal government, non-governmental organizations (Chambers) and corporations. By definition these entities have a primary goal which is not necessarily everyone else’s primary goal in a startup community. Therein lies a serious friction point. Every month or so I work with my local economic development players who bring with them their goal of creating net new jobs in the area.  I applaud and support these efforts with my time and energy by serving as the “startup” representative during their recruiting tours. Almost every week I work with the same archetype all over the world who again have the same goal – create net new jobs in their region.  The problem is that they view a startup community (and its growth) as a vehicle for net new job growth. The consequence of a net new jobs lens is that you are dependent on monitoring the new jobs that a startup(s) create which is the wrong metric for measuring your startup community. As an entrepreneur, my job is singular – build …