Welcome to the Flywheel Ventures blog.

Don’t Forget to Think About What Could Go Right!

Back during my days in Silicon Valley, when I was an executive with a startup funded by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, I got excellent advice one day from Doug Mackenze, the KPCB partner on our board.  During a strategy session, Doug said, “Don’t forget to think about what could go right!”  Too often we spend all of our time as VCs and entrepreneurs “mitigating risk,” which is great except that sometimes the biggest risk is that you’re not ready when opportunity strikes.

I moved Flywheel Ventures to New Mexico back in 2000 for a variety of reasons, but the principal motivator was simple: Fish Where Everyone Else Isn’t.  I thought that New Mexico, in particular, was a dramatically underserved market for venture investing and technology entrepreneurship.  Sooner or later, I thought, that tide would turn and, as the saying goes, the boats would start lifting.

It’s been a lot of hard work by thousands of entrepreneurs, service professionals, politicians, investors, and other thought leaders in New Mexico - many of whom have been at it a lot longer than myself or Flywheel.  Now, though, it looks like the tide really is coming in - and sure enough, it may be arriving faster than any of us expected.  Just read this editorial by the New Mexico Business Weekly today: Albuquerque Is On Fire With Growth and Opportunity.

The late management guru Peter Drucker once said, “The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.”  Mr. Drucker would surely be impressed by the opportunities for entrepreneurs today in New Mexico.

Time to go fishing!... more »

Posted 05-08-2006, 12:41 pm, by Trevor Loy    Comments 1

Albuquerque Named #3 in USA by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

Another honor is in for Albuquerque, this time being named #3 in its list of 50 smart, vibrant, fun, and affordable places to live by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, June 2006 edition (the web site isn’t yet updated with this content; thanks to the Duke City Fix blog for being first on my radar screen to catch this honor.)

Posted 05-08-2006, 11:37 am, by Trevor Loy    Comments 0

Las Cruces, NM #2 and Albuquerque #1 on Forbes Best Places for Business and Careers

I previously mentioned that the new Forbes A href=“http://www.forbes.com/2006/05/03/06bestplaces_best-places-for-business_land.html”>“Best Places for Business and Careers” is out, and named Albuquerque #1 in the large metro category.  I forgot to mention, however, that in the small metro category, our very own Las Cruces, NM took #2. Almost an out-and-out sweep.. congrats to the entire 505 area code are in order.

Posted 05-08-2006, 11:37 am, by Trevor Loy    Comments 0

Forbes Names Albuquerque #1 in USA for Business

Surely everyone in the 505 area code is already well aware of this most recent honor, but for those of you everywhere else who haven’t yet seen the latest issue of Forbes,  Albuquerque was named the #1 city in the USA for Business.

The article focuses heavily on the rapid increase in technology start-up activity, particularly in non-traditional sectors starting to draw more interest from investors, such as aviation, alternative energy, etc. Kudos are due to hundreds of people and organizations who are working together to move New Mexico forward in the global economy!

Posted 05-08-2006, 11:08 am, by Trevor Loy    Comments 0

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