Jeff Berman

I'm happy to announce that Founder Institute is bringing on Paul O'Brien as our first Head of Public Affairs. Paul joins FI with decades of experience tackling the systemic reasons startups and local ecosystems fail due to misaligned policy, underperforming startup programs, or institutional neglect of the realities of launching endurable businesses in today's economy. From Austin to Silicon Valley and beyond, Paul has championed the idea that education is infrastructure, and that cities should treat entrepreneurial development as essential as roads, broadband, and water. At FI we couldn't agree more, and as AI transforms our economy I believe the future of our society will be found at the convergence of how we teach, how we govern, and how we serve entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, I speak to government and economic development officials every week that are completely neglecting the education and development of new entrepreneurs in their regions. In his new role, Paul will help us push FI's mission to empower communities of entrepreneurs forward through Policy Engagement, University and Civic Integration, and Ecosystem Accountability. If your city, university, or organization is ready to integrate structured entrepreneurial incubation and acceleration with policy and capital strategy, now’s the time to connect! 🔗 Read the full announcement - https://lnkd.in/eenwHujW (and welcome on board, Paul! 👏 )

127

32 Comments

In the very near future, STATION DC will start dropping scoops and exclusive news (mostly around DC tech + tech policy). All of it will land first in the STATION DC weekly members-only newsletter (and sometimes in the members app). Our goal is to become the trusted source for community-driven tech intel inside the Beltway. … and over time, if you’re not part of the community, you’ll be out of the loop - because old media won’t save you.

86

6 Comments

As I prepare to speak at the inspiring BeyondX Summit in Fremont, CA, brilliantly organized by Rachel K Zhang, I'm reminded of a profound oversight in how young talent navigates career crossroads. For those under 25, brimming with high-energy ingenuity as engineers, marketers, community builders, or designers, the choice often boils down to optionality and opportunity cost: a stable role at a large corporation, a position at a late-stage startup with polished traction, or diving into an early-stage venture (or founding one) with substantial equity upside. I've found that the conventional analysis is perilously one-sided, reducing the decision to a probabilistic calculus: estimating post-join equity value based on the company's stage. "If I join this Series A outfit, what's my 1% stake worth in five years at a $1B exit?" Or, "A FAANG job offers immediate comp, but caps my wealth creation." It's a linear equation, projecting outcomes as if your presence is a neutral variable, merely along for the ride. This couldn't be more wrong. Here's the underestimated delta: your individual impact on the probability and magnitude of success. The earlier the stage, the greater your leverage to bend the trajectory. In a 10-person team led by seasoned founders, your contributions aren't diluted amid bureaucracy; they're catalytic. As an engineer, you might architect a scalable core feature that accelerates product-market fit. As a marketer, you could forge viral growth loops that double user acquisition. A designer might redefine UX, turning early adopters into evangelists. Community builders? You could cultivate a loyal ecosystem that sustains through pivots. This isn't abstract, it's multiplicative. Consider a baseline: a startup with 5% odds of a $100M acquisition in 5-10 years. Your high-caliber input could plausibly double that probability to 10% while amplifying the exit to $250M, via enhanced execution, innovation, or network effects. Yes, just one person. In edge cases, it spells the difference between dissolution and unicorn status. Suddenly, the equation isn't linear; it's exponential, where your agency compounds the expected value far beyond static projections. To my audience today and my network at large: embrace this truth. When you opt for risk, you're not just betting on the company, you're reshaping its odds. Devoting my Saturday to empowering the next wave of entrepreneurs, I urge you: factor in your delta. The future isn't found in spreadsheets alone; it's forged by those who dare to multiply it. https://lnkd.in/gT65v_eS

38

3 Comments