Ian Hathaway – Startup Communities as Complex Adaptive Systems

Seedtable Podcast | European Tech, VC & Startups

My guest today is Ian Hathaway. Ian is an analyst, strategic advisor, writer, and entrepreneur, and currently leads product development for ecosystem advisory at Techstars, where he works with founders and community leaders around the world to support their path towards building better tech ecosystems.

He is also the co-author of The Startup Community Way, a book on building entrepreneurial ecosystems published in July 2020.

If you know me, then you know I have a rule – I don't read new books. There are so many great ones out there that I haven't read yet that it feels counterproductive to take my chances with something that just came out. But I broke my rule for Ian's book and I couldn't be happier I did.

I was initially introduced to Ian by Nicolas Colin, Director of The Family, to chat about the book and my obsession with building technology ecosystems.

That said, Ian is a fascinating guest so this conversation ended up covering so much more: we start by discussing why artist don't like when people fuck with their art and Ian's writing process, then we go into the book, why startup communities are complex adaptive systems, and why everyone should play positive-sum games. After that we move into Europe's technology ecosytem, underrated hubs and policy suggestions and we wrap up the conversation by talking about coaching and how it changed Ian's life.

If you are as obsessed about writing, entrepreneurship and startup communities as I am, then this conversation won't disappoint. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.