Startup ecosystem Archive

Startup Accelerators for Creators: An Unmet Need

We Need More Startup Resources for Creators Are you a creative entrepreneur, or “creator,” and wondering where all the love is? Where are the startup accelerators, investors, and boot camps for creative startups?  Despite contributing over $700billion to the US economy, creative entrepreneurs struggle to find support that meets their unique needs as founders of high growth ventures.  As professional designers, musicians, filmmakers, many creatives …

The Creative Economy. It’s Bigger than You Think.

How Will Your Community Compete? Communities are experiencing unprecedented economic disruptions as interconnected digital technologies proliferate and efficiencies in global markets expands. Human creativity and ingenuity have never been more essential to the economic well being of communities. Demand for creative goods and services – and the creative economy in general – is growing by leaps and bounds. Creative startups are increasingly leading economic opportunities …

Putting the Makers in Creative Placemaking

Creative Entrepreneurs are Creative Place Makers The creative placemaking movement is exciting.  But it may be missing a bigger opportunity to fundamentally shift the role of creatives/artists in planning and building vibrant communities.  (If Creative Placemaking is a new concept to you, jump to the bottom of this post to read more about it.)  The individuals and teams who make creative places happen are mostly …

ArtPlace, Zunis, and Pinterest, Oh My.

We (Creative Startups) are finalists for a 2015 ArtPlace grant in partnership with the Indigenous Design and Planning Institute at UNM.  So, last week the team and I spent a full day in Zuni Pueblo. If you have ever been to Zunilands you know it is nestled amongst pine covered red rock mesas, 120 miles southwest of Albuquerque.  It is the spot where Europeans first …

Vocabulary for Creative Startups

Vocabulary for Creative Startups (Part 1 of 10) “We needed a vocabulary list.  I didn’t know what you were talking about when you first talked about ‘IPO’s”. Yesterday I published a post on the definition of entrepreneurship.  And the minute I hit “Publish” I recalled the above piece of feedback we got about our accelerator.  Duh.  I should have realized that.  (One of many things …

A Definition of Entrepreneurship

What is your definition of entrepreneurship? It seems over the past decade the application of the awe-inspiring tag of “entrepreneur” has been cornered by those building businesses in the “high tech” fields.  Let’s set aside for a moment the notion that some of us use “low” tech to build businesses while others use “higher” (?) technologies.  I’ll write more on that later.  First, I want …

Why Accelerators “Fail”

If you read this blog you know that I helped found Creative Startups, a startup accelerator designed for creatives.  I don’t have loads of experience launching accelerators, heck I don’t even know very much about them compared to, say, David Cohen, or Dave McClure.  So, the reflections I’m sharing here are based on relatively little experience.  But, to be fair to myself, I do make …