Nov 5, 2013

Start-up CEOs can’t build a company all by themselves. For that they need the help of cofounders and other team members, customers willing to try the start-up’s product, and eventually investors. But start-ups usually have little money to pay top talent. Yet some succeed in attracting the best people in their industry. The way they do it is to mint what I...

Oct 26, 2013

Cities around the world look with envy at places like Tel Aviv, Boston, Cambridge, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley. After all, these regions have managed to attract a critical mass of talent and capital that yields a vital stream of ever-expanding start-up activity. To be sure, such entrepreneurial booms create challenges for their policymakers, as the rising...

Oct 7, 2013

In Why does location matter?, I made a case that picking the right place for your venture can affect its performance. There I argued that start-up activity varies across different cities and regions because of six elements: pillar companies, universities, human capital, investment capital, mentoring, and values. If you agree that location matters, the next...

Sep 20, 2013

The world-is-flat meme dismisses location as irrelevant because companies can start anywhere and reach employees and customers at any time of day via e-mail, text, voice, and video. However, my research suggests that where you locate your start-up matters tremendously; it can influence whether you succeed or fail. Location matters to start-ups because the people...