bradleyjoyce [dot] com • Building a Better Startup Community in DFW

Building a Better Startup Community in DFW

I’ve had this blog post sitting in the hopper for months and I’ve been debating if I should post it or not, especially since I’ve been giving moving to SFO or NYC a really hard look.

However, I had a great conversation today with someone who has a lot of passion for trying to make DFW a great place for startups, and it’s prompted me to go ahead and publish this.

Even though I’ve seriously been considering moving in the past couple weeks, I really believe everything I’ve written here.

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Lately I’ve been thinking quite a bit about what we need to do in DFW to build a better startup community.

It seems not a month goes by where I don’t read about another startup, or another Founder/Hacker/Designer moving out to the valley. What can we do to make our community compelling enough for these companies and people to stay?

In my mind, there are 4 foundational elements that we need to have or improve upon here in the metroplex, if we want to stop this exodus. They are, in no particular order:

More Local Investment

Let’s face it, the current investment capital situation in DFW is dismal for tech startups. The vast majority of startups seeking to raise capital will do so out of state. With that money comes huge pressure on founders to relocate their companies. We need more local money going into local companies.

A Successful Incubator/Accelerator

We need Tech Wildcatters to wildly succeed. By that I mean we need a significant number of companies from each class to receive additional funding on graduation and a significant number of those to go on to successful exits. This will bring more and more talent to the area while raising the DFW community profile in all respects.

More Events

I believe having more startup related events will greatly boost our community. From mixers, founder dating and conferences to pitch camps, investment events and more, increasing the number of events in DFW will foster more connections and a stronger community.

Willingness to Stay and Paying Back

If we want to continue to improve our community, people are going to have to make a stand for it. Commit to building your company locally. Let investors know you feel it’s important your team not uproot. Not always easy, but it will be necessary if we don’t want to keep losing great companies to the valley. If you do go, or if your company is successful, don’t forget the community where you got started. Come back and advise or invest in local startups. Come speak at local events. Give a little back.

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My personal hope is that I, my company, and Launch DFW can somehow help foster all of these in some way or another. Of course, it’s has to be a community undertaking. As always I welcome your input and feedback on how we are doing and how we can do better!

At the end of the day, all of us founders will have to make the decision that’s best for our companies. Lets hope that someday founders don’t even have to think twice about staying.