Creative Revolution

We Need More Startup Resources for Creators Are you a creative entrepreneur, or “creator,” and wondering where all the love is? Where are the startup accelerators, investors, and boot camps for creative startups?  Despite contributing over $700billion to the US economy, creative entrepreneurs struggle to find support that meets their unique needs as founders of high growth ventures.  As professional designers, musicians, filmmakers, many creatives …

How Will Your Community Compete? Communities are experiencing unprecedented economic disruptions as interconnected digital technologies proliferate and efficiencies in global markets expands. Human creativity and ingenuity have never been more essential to the economic well being of communities. Demand for creative goods and services – and the creative economy in general – is growing by leaps and bounds. Creative startups are increasingly leading economic opportunities …

You can PARCC this where the sun… Today my 6th grader, who earns straight A’s and is a perfect student – maybe even OCD about it all –  was totally stressed out about taking the Common Core PARCC tests this week.  Her dad and I have said multiple times, “Don’t worry about it – just stay focused and relaxed and you’ll do fine.  These test …

Short answer: Because unrequited love sucks. If you are like most of us creative entrepreneurs, you probably spend time fantasizing about getting your label taken up by a market leader. Or getting on Target’s shelves. Or being called out at the Oscar’s as “the world’s most brilliant new designer”. Which is ok because it keeps the dream alive!  Fantasies like this give us the push …

Kickstarter Should do a Campaign for Itself. Today I sent an email to two guys I supported on Kickstarter.  They had developed a sleek wooden standing desk and I “invested” $300.  Their campaign was successfully funded and I was delighted thinking about my new desk – to be coming by mid-December.  Then in early December they emailed saying they were making a few design tweaks …

Creative Entrepreneurs are Creative Place Makers The creative placemaking movement is exciting.  But it may be missing a bigger opportunity to fundamentally shift the role of creatives/artists in planning and building vibrant communities.  (If Creative Placemaking is a new concept to you, jump to the bottom of this post to read more about it.)  The individuals and teams who make creative places happen are mostly …

Meow Wolf “Arts” Creative Entrepreneurs Raising nearly $3 million in private investment and support over the past six months, Meow Wolf — Creative Startups Accelerator 2014 Top Finalist–is off like a rocket.  We made a $25,000 investment from our tiny fund.  Investments in creative startups are on the rise.  Which I guess could mean that I don’t need to make an argument on behalf of …

We (Creative Startups) are finalists for a 2015 ArtPlace grant in partnership with the Indigenous Design and Planning Institute at UNM.  So, last week the team and I spent a full day in Zuni Pueblo. If you have ever been to Zunilands you know it is nestled amongst pine covered red rock mesas, 120 miles southwest of Albuquerque.  It is the spot where Europeans first …

Vocabulary for Creative Startups (Part 1 of 10) “We needed a vocabulary list.  I didn’t know what you were talking about when you first talked about ‘IPO’s”. Yesterday I published a post on the definition of entrepreneurship.  And the minute I hit “Publish” I recalled the above piece of feedback we got about our accelerator.  Duh.  I should have realized that.  (One of many things …

What is your definition of entrepreneurship? It seems over the past decade the application of the awe-inspiring tag of “entrepreneur” has been cornered by those building businesses in the “high tech” fields.  Let’s set aside for a moment the notion that some of us use “low” tech to build businesses while others use “higher” (?) technologies.  I’ll write more on that later.  First, I want …