Paul Graham: Mess with the Bull, Get the Horns

Paul Graham, for whom I have the utmost respect as a entrepreneur and an investor has stirred up a bit of a controversy with his recent essay about 18 Mistakes that Kill Startups. It is his style to be edgy and controversial, but he’s drawn the ire of some of our friends in Texas by calling out Houston as a a city with startup activity that’s too small to measure.

Marc Nathan takes exception to this in his recent post over at Bull Dog Financial, saying he “gets to see emerging technology start ups based here every single day.” Alex Muse disagrees too, “It might be easier to raise money if you locate your business in the Bay Area, but you might be able to build a ‘better’ company in Houston.”

Now, Paul didn’t bother to mention New Orleans, and that’s probably because we are a city where startup activity actually is too small to measure, who knows maybe like Detroit (Chicago seems like stretch too). But I know from personal experience that outside of Silicon Valley, I’ve had more connections to startup activity and entrepreneurial energy in Houston than anywhere else I’ve been lately. The BarCamp in Houston in June absolutely blew the doors off the BarCamp in San Francisco in July. They simply didn’t compare.

Now, I’m dedicated to building startups outside the system, and I relish the underdog status that Paul Graham is bestowing on Houston. I propose we all take it as a challenge. After talking to Marc last night, I think we’ve already got some exciting ideas that will put us and Houston on the radar. Stay tuned for details.