Hey guys, happy to answer any questions. I spent about a year and a half on the road reporting and researching the book. My general approach, after I chose the cities I wanted to profile, was to make contact with every ... single ... person associated with the local entrepreneur community and go to every event I could, meeting everyone and going everywhere. Some cities I went back to more than once.
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Hunter
@timsprinkle As someone who programs much of what happens in my own startup community, I can only imagine how exhausting it would be to attend that many events. :) Awesome opportunity to network across the country, though. Did any startup communities in particular stand out as super supportive, inviting, etc? I'm loving the family kind of atmosphere we've built around here, but wonder if its just a function of being a small town.
@urbnist@timsprinkle Las Vegas was like a small town when I was there. Super supportive. Super tight. Everyone knew everyone. My understanding is that things have changed since The Downtown Project's recent troubles, but that one was the biggest surprise for me. I think that's tough to maintain as you get bigger, though. New York was still pretty tight when I was there, and we all know how big things have gotten there.
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Hunter
@timsprinkle thanks for the answer. Definitely imagine there's a tipping point, but at the same time you want to see growth and success in the community so you can't knock getting bigger.
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Hunter
Sprinkle takes a look at tech hubs across the country (New York, Boulder, Austin, Raleigh, Detroit, Las Vegas, Kansas City) and makes the case for their emerging value as a startup HQ.
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@timsprinkle What was your research process for this book?
Screw the Valley
Screw the Valley