Reading :: Startup Communities

Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City
By Brad Feld

Here's another brief review. Brad Feld uses Boulder, Colorado's startup community as an extended example of how to build and maintain a healthy startup community. Through vivid stories, he discusses the principles of a vibrant startup community, the participants such a community needs, its leadership, its classical problems, and the relationships such a community needs with universities, government, and other community members.

The book is just under 190 pages, but it's a quick read -- I read it in one (long) sitting, but it's really written to be consumed in short bites. Like some other books I recently reviewed, it has a lot of illustrative stories, so it's not a dense read (for good or ill). But it does a good job of crystallizing the deep experience Feld has with building, maintaining, and elevating startup communities. If that's your interest, definitely pick it up. And if your interest is more specific -- such as starting a company, participating in a university-industry partnership, or visiting an incubator -- you'll find the book useful as well.