Brad Feld and Ian Hathaway describe the startup community as a “complex system” in their new book, The Startup Community Way, By this they mean that it is inherently unpredictable and needs to be managed by more formulaic systems ranging from simple (like making coffee) to complicated (like having a financial audit for your company) to complex, like a startup community or raising a child.  

We find ourselves in the Startup Community faced with exponentially complex system as we combine an ever evolving startup community with the complex system of the pandemic driven changes to the economy, race, health, and mental health.  The complexity of the relationships of all of these social forces leaves us with a high degree of uncertainty about what to do. Each of these factors is tied to the others as we look for ways to deal with this complex pandemic. The pandemic has brought all of these things to a head in 2020 and the ways that we deal with any one of them as a startup community will have many unanticipated consequences.

The pandemic brings a lot of hardships and change with it, but it is also a time of extraordinary opportunity.  Startups who are sensitive to complex systems and can find opportunities within the apparent chaos may end up as tomorrow’s companies like Instagram, DropBox, Venmo, Stripe, AirB&B and many more – companies who found opportunity within the last global economic crisis.

Join us at the Colorado Capital Conference,  August 12-13 for a conversation with Brad Feld about his new book and how it relates to the pandemic, along with Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, nine startups pitching great deals, and lots of opportunities for networking and interactive breakout sessions.  Visit rockiesventureclub.org/ccc to learn more.

‍