This. The sheer quantity of terrible content marketers whose sole content is selling the idea that you can become a bestselling author who wear this badge is absurd.
I agree the funding infrastructure in Austin is lacking. I think that's a function of time though, not of interest/capability. We'll need more and more diverse funding sources to get 'there'.
Generally, the way startup ecosystems go - people make a big exit, fund locally. We're still riding the first bubble (Baer et al, Trilogy etc). There's a good book on this too.
Of course, that diversification is happening naturally, but yeah, we lack the funding infrastructure of a lot of other cities, and acknowledging that fact, and making that fact explicit, and not denying it ("Look we have customer service shops of big companies!") or a slight of hand ("SV has something different to offer, we're unique!") would be a giant step forward.
Austin's not there (yet).
(Also, it's hilarious how CPG is huge in Austin thanks to Deep Eddy, Rhythm, and SKU but it's not as sexy famous as even the enterprise software stuff.)
Yep. I think people are getting caught up on the 'startup' part of this.
Roughly this is how I've met every mentor I've wanted to and then gone on to work with them.
Demonstrate value by investing time/effort in your interest, and build on that through communication until an opportunity to work together presents itself.
My first job out of school was at a thinktank. Spent a lot of time in those circles. (Defense, security, energy etc.)
It's a terrible place to actually accomplish anything. Donors exchange money (tax benefits) for furthering ideology. The metric of success is that. Not impact on society.
I got more done as a consultant than as an analyst at a think tank.
To actually do something, consider NGOs like Ushahidi.
Apple has notoriously strict security protocols. I actually wrote a book about it, but here's some resources (near the bottom) http://theriseofsiri.com/inspiration/
Here's the thing though. You can hardcode serial processes with OODA in mind. That's basically what the Toyota version of lean is.
But not only is OODA fractal, but it's concurrent. Hundreds running in parallel that comprise the enterprise. The takeaway is that the processes need a shared O for that kind of organization to work.