I respect France's commitment to not working on a holiday.

You're looking at a 200 year-old wisteria vine at Byakugou-ji Temple in Tamba, Hyogo, Japan. The delicate pink/purple blossoms create an otherworldly place where magic can happen. But here's an interesting fact: wisteria are in the legume family (Fabaceae). This is a magic beanstalk.

“Clarity beats cleverness.”

"The graveyard is full of founders who confused conviction with correctness." Who wants to read a blog post on this topic?

40 Product Podcasts for Product People bog-dan.medium.com/40-product-p...

Seed The South Capital Summit 2026. It’s lonely at the top.

What a miss opportunity on calling this bar Chapter 11.

Day 2 at the Seed the South Capital Summit.

Role to role. Human to human.

Seed the South Capital Summit is ON

A short blog post after the Startup Grind Global conference. startup-iq.com/the-startup-...

Matt Kraning's (Menlo Ventures) talk "The AI-First Startup Playbook" at the Startup Grind was the best talk of the conference. Sorry, Ashton Kutcher! menlovc.com/team/matt-kr...

Startup Grind 2026 summary. #startupgrind

This was the funniest talk at #StartupGrid. I can’t even imagine what the founders who started three months ago are thinking.

The future of design. #StartupGrind

What’s Worth Building in AI Right Now with Amrita Bhasin (Sotira), Anna Patterson (Ceramic), Neda Mansoorian (FullProof.ai), AJ Thomas (Good Trouble Ventures).

Shipping AI features is easy. Becoming an AI company is not. In this fireside, Eoghan McCabe and Ilya Fushman go beyond product to unpack what it actually takes to transform a company from the inside out.

“When you are building your company, what are you taking away?” Why does Ashton need to ask this question? The Subtraction Economy: Why the Next Great Companies Remove Work

Where Capital Is Moving Next: The Rise of New Venture Markets with Sebastián Negrón Reichard and Diego Salina’s (Department of Economic Development + Commerce of Puerto Rico), Jamie Rodota (Parallel18), Josue E. Rivera (Economic Development Bank), Carlos Garcia (Wynwood Capital)

Q&A with Steve Jang (Managing Partner + Founder, Kindred Ventures) and Dave Ferguson (co-founder Nuro).

Matt Kraning (Menlo Ventures) on The AI-First Startup Playbook. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t exist yet. And if it exists, it doesn’t work well.

GTM for Startups with Sarah Ramos (Base10 Partners) and Tiffany Spencer (Menlo Ventures). #StartupGrind

Investing in Global LatAm with Fabiola Quinzaños (Partner, Monashees) #StartupGrind

VC Perspectives: Building in the US as an International Founder with Eugene Malobrodsky (One Way Ventures), Audrey Kim (Oak HC/FT), Manan Mehta (Unshackled Ventures), Charly Esnal (Mana Tech). #startupgrind

Andy Budd giving founders the truth about Navigating The Rollercoaster of Product-Market Fit: How to Survive the Toughest Stage of the Startup Journey at Startup Grind.

Navin Chaddha (Mayfield Fund) and Derek Andersen (Bevy) in conversation for Day 1 of Startup Grind.

Kudos to Margaux Miller for the 8 AM energy. #startupgrind

We came to the Startup Grind Conference to think outside of the box.

Startup IQ ready to listen to the most pressing questions from founders and investors at Startup Grind 2026.

For our European friends. www.linkedin.com/pulse/europe...

Scott Walbrun (BMW iVentures) dropping knowledge at the NSF I-Corps Hub Northwest event.

Big listening day for Startup IQ, closing with Startup Funding in the Caribbean. fi.co/event/startu....

Michael representing Startup IQ at the Venture Week in Miami. www.ventureweekmiami.com

"A 1 percent increase in the number of entrepreneurs at the county level, for instance, corresponds with a 2 percent gain in household income. [...] every 1 percent increase in entrepreneurial activity in a state correlates with a 2 percent decline in poverty."

Great Seed The South event (the official pre-Summit kickoff) by Innovate Charlotte tonight at The Line.

"naming what's happening isn't complaining, it's risk management. ecosystem transformation takes 20 years, technology translation takes 10-15, and yet we're measuring success on 1-3 year grant cycles! The math doesn't work." ecosystem-edge.kit.com/posts/the-ma...

Enter with your 2-minute pitch to win a $1,000,000 investment for your startup. www.deel.com/the-pitch-by...

Jack Nolan at the RIoT State of the Region 2026 event riot.org/event/state-... where a new joint venture between NC IDEA and WRC was announced to expand support for entrepreneurs in North Carolina.

The huge impact of AI rounds in the 2025 VC funding.

Right 2 Start is committed to making entrepreneurship easier, more visible, and more celebrated across the nation. 2026 has a Roadmap.

250 years ago, America was launched as the world’s most courageous startup. Startup IQ is joining the America the Entrepreneurial movement to celebrate entrepreneurship and shape the next 250 years. 👉 americatheentrepreneurial.org

Jack attending Pitch Breakfast in Charlotte, NC. Three founders pitched their early-stage startups to three experienced investors. Thanks to Juan Garzón from Innovate Charlotte for hosting!

Happy New Year, Happy New You! 🎉 As we welcome 2026, we want to thank our community of innovators, founders, and partners for being part of the Startup IQ journey. Your ideas, ambition, and resilience continue to inspire us every day. — Startup IQ Team

Kudos to the title copywriter.

Right after a funding round, optimism is real—and dangerous. Checks are written, incentives align, narratives glow. Then the money clears, investors look away, and scrutiny fades to quarterly calls. This is the dead zone where problems grow in the dark. startup-iq.com/the-startup-...

It took Startup IQ a long time to learn that Santa is real. And there's two of them!!!

Washington DC. Thursday 12/4 vs Friday 12/5.

Go Ronan! library.syracuse.edu/news/six-stu...

A well-anchored trampoline would give entrepreneurs confidence to jump high. Upstate's uneven support system encourages them to keep their feet closer to the ground. startup-iq.com/the-startup-...