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September 7By Comments OffRead more...

The 5 Things I Learned on the HSC Next Team This Summer

As a Fort Worth native, the opportunity to work in our entrepreneurial ecosystem and startup scene has been very fulfilling. But when I started this internship, I didn’t know how much I would learn about my hometown, myself, and the business world beyond our city limits. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to work for Sparkyard and HSC Next as my first internship. Regarding introductions to professional life, I would say that mine was pretty stellar. Writing about what I learned this summer without launching into a full novel is challenging because the amount of experience and understanding I've gained...

August 24By Comments OffRead more...

5 Unexpected Lessons From This Summer

Last summer, I dove headfirst into the workforce a few weeks following my high school graduation. And I guess you could say I had an okay experience because I ended up coming back for a second summer—and better yet, I was able to work with them full-time.   As I enter the last week of my internship, I can’t help but feel somewhat perplexed as to where I should start my end-of-summer blog. Since this is my second summer with HSC Next, (you can see my takeaways from last summer here) I’m forced to be a little more creative with my points...

August 9By Comments OffRead more...

Training an Innovation Workforce

Workforce development. It seems like everywhere I look someone is talking about developing our local workforce to meet the demands of today’s employers. But what does this really mean and more importantly, how do we actually develop our local innovation workforce? If you ask just about any local entrepreneur or CEO, they will tell you that hiring the right kinds of employees is one of their biggest challenges. It’s a challenge for BNSF and Lockheed Martin to hire qualified rail line and manufacturing workers. It’s a struggle for retail establishments to hire front line workers and restaurants to hire cooks. But...

June 28By Comments OffRead more...

Top 5 Events in the Summer of 2023

As the summer heats up, so does the anticipation for some of the most relevant and engaging business events in DFW. These events provide a platform for professionals across industries to gather, network, and gain invaluable insights into the latest trends, strategies, and innovations shaping the business world. If you're looking to stay ahead of the curve and make meaningful connections, this blog is your ultimate guide to the summer's top five must-attend business conferences.  Virtual Workshop: Supercharge your business with ChatGPT and AI  It is no secret that Chat GPT has changed the business world tremendously since it became accessible to...

June 21By Comments OffRead more...

Startup & StartOut: Researching and Empowering LGBTQ Entrepreneurs

As of 2022, there are 1.4 million LGBTQ business owners in the United States, contributing $1.7 trillion annually to the national economy. LGBTQ entrepreneurs often find themselves navigating a system that perpetuates inequalities, limiting access to the necessary financial resources to thrive and succeed. In honor of Pride Month, I wanted to share some research findings on the LGBTQ community and resources for queer entrepreneurs. Out of $2.1 trillion dollars of funding tracked after the year 2000, only 0.5% of all the funding raised for startups went to LGBTQ entrepreneurs. The nationwide LGBTQ+ population stands at 7.1%.   The average LGBTQ+ entrepreneur created...

June 13By Comments OffRead more...

Startup Champions Network Policy Summit Recap

Last week, several of us from the HSC Next team attended the first-ever policy-focused summit hosted by the Startup Champions Network (SCN) in Washington, DC. Though the SCN crew has been hosting Summits in locations around the country for more than a decade now, this was the first one they held in our nation’s capital and the first one focused on policy for entrepreneurs, innovators and the organizations that support them. The conversations were encouraging and insightful. Here are a few of my takeaways from DC. First, we discussed how to build a more entrepreneurial workforce. Traditionally, Federal and state job...

June 2By Comments OffRead more...

Energizing Entrepreneurship in All Communities

New and young businesses create nearly all job growth in America. That’s why it’s so important to ensure that entrepreneurship is a civic priority in every community. That’s the mission of Right to Start, the national nonprofit organization whose field operations I lead. Those field operations focus primarily on a growing network of 25 volunteer Ambassadors in 19 states and the District of Columbia and 14 part-time Advocates in 10 states. Together, we share insights into barriers that obstruct entrepreneurship, design efforts to remove them, and pursue related policy change.  Two of our Ambassadors are Trey Bowles (Techstars Physical Health...

May 9By Comments OffRead more...

The Rise of Vietnamese American Entrepreneurship in DFW

Did you know that the Vietnamese language is the third most spoken language in the DFW area (after English and Spanish)? In 1970, the Vietnamese community in North Texas was only 1,500 residents, and currently the population has risen to over 110,000, making DFW the fourth largest Vietnamese community in the United States, behind Los Angeles, Houston, and San Jose. The Vietnamese people, along with other Asian ethnicities, are extremely entrepreneurial. Asian Americans make up only 5.9% of population in DFW but own more than 15% of all businesses in the area! From innovative companies such as Luraco Technologies that owns...

April 13By Comments OffRead more...

Earth-Friendly Ways to Cut Waste and Your Marketing Budget

Hey there, titan of industry! It’s Earth Month, and businesses account for two-thirds of the waste in our local landfills, so let's talk about how you can reduce waste and why it’s beneficial not only for the environment but also for your bottom line. Who are we to offer this unsolicited advice? Well, at The Welman Project, we see business waste every day. As a Fort Worth nonprofit on a mission to fill a classroom, not a landfill, we take business waste, find curriculum-enhancing ways to repurpose it, and donate it to teachers for creative reuse in the classroom. Along...

February 20By Comments OffRead more...

What Artificial Intelligence (AI) Can Do For You

Automation refers to the use of technology to perform tasks without human intervention. This can include tasks such as data entry, customer service inquiries, and manufacturing processes. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a type of technology that enables computers to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence, such as recognizing patterns, making decisions, and learning.   Automation and AI are relevant to startups and small businesses because they can help improve efficiency and productivity, reduce costs, and make better decisions. In a competitive business environment, automation and AI can give startups and small businesses a competitive advantage by enabling them to do...