In 2012, Brad Feld – investor, entrepreneur, author, speaker – published his seminal book on startup communities, entitled “Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City.” It introduced the “Boulder Thesis”, a framework for creating and building startup communities. The book became the go-to-guide for all of us working to support entrepreneurs and their startups.
Brad just published two new books on the subject of startup communities: “The Startup Community Way: Evolving an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem”, co-authored with Ian Hathaway, and the second edition of “Startup Communities”. Both books are highly recommended for everyone involved in building or advancing entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Among many valuable takeaways from reading The Startup Community Way, two in particular stand out initially: first, Brad and Ian highlight the importance of understanding complex systems in startup community building – or as they describe it, “putting the system back in ecosystem”. They present an evolution of the Boulder Thesis which emphasizes that it’s the systemic interaction of the parts of startup communities: people, organizations, resources, and more, that creates value in the ecosystem, not the parts themselves.
The second notable takeaway is presented as the third principle of the Boulder thesis: “The startup community must be inclusive of anyone who wants to participate.” As diversity, equity and inclusion take on even more urgency today, this principle has pronounced gravity. As described in The Startup Community Way: “Complex problems require a diverse set of perspectives. Radical acceptance of a broad range of ideas, identities, and experiences builds the trust that is necessary to unlock the creative potential of the entire community.”
Both of Brad’s new books are available from his website: feld.com, and his Amazon Author Page, among other channels.