Me Too Founders Are Uninvestable

How about what separates startup ecosystems that flourish from those that struggle?

So this credit I would give to Brad Feld.

Brad wrote Startup Communities back in 2011, 2012 timeframe.

And in there, one of the lessons he had was there really shouldn't be a CEO of the startup ecosystem in a place.

This is a high tension job, thankless job many times, but But if it's a cohort of people who are the leading voices, then continuity is established over decades.

His other lesson was don't think of a startup ecosystem as a five-year strategy or a 20-year strategy.

Think of it as a continually rolling 20-year timeline.

So those lessons have been applied in Des Moines.

I know they're in Minneapolis.

I know they're in Omaha, where it's the bolder thesis, as what Brad called it.

It's that entrepreneur-led organizations are far stronger than a single person who is both the physical and the influencer head of an ecosystem.

That's what we're after.

That's what we try to develop.

I know I'll be done one of these days, but that's okay,

right? Yeah.

And you've worked across FinTech, InsurTech, AgTech, and emerging technologies.

What sectors excite you the most today?

I'm actually quite agnostic.

I love the play of pure technology where inventions are conceived, but pure technology is across all of those horizontals, right? In ag, in manufacturing, in financial services, in medical.

So I don't think I have a favorite child across all of those.

Okay, no, fair enough, fair enough.

And you've mentored founders for decades.

What leadership traits consistently show up in successful entrepreneurs?

The lack of defensiveness.

Having an outsider tell you what's working, what's not working, what might work, what might not work is one thing.