Category: Community

Startup community building is fraught with uncertainty – dont make it worse. For a brief shining moment, I was in the fire suppression business so I know a little about fire.  Fire needs 3 elements; spark, material and oxygen. That is why you keep your door closed when there is a fire outside your room – don’t feed it more oxygen. When I meet with startup community enthusiasts, we talk a lot about the factors that seem to grow a community and the factors that seem to inhibit progress.  If we could only do more of the right thing and less of the wrong things maybe we could build a little momentum. Every community has its challenges.  Some of the ones I hear are: We do not have enough capital There are leaders who try and control everything I can’t find any good mentors The local corporations do not engage with startups We don’t have any breakout companies. These are real challenges and each one plays a negative role.  But here is the thing, publicly and privately bitching about these issues in itself also has a negative role to play.  I know this is human nature.  I also know we …