A History of the Dallas Startup Scene

Kira M. Newman Feb 7, 2013 Tweet

As Tech Cocktail rolls into Dallas, Texas, for a mixer and startup showcase tonight, we’d like to stop and recognize how much the startup scene has grown in the past few years.

Alexander Muse, a serial entrepreneur and cofounder of ShopSavvy, started rallying the community together in 2005 with his Texas Startup Blog, which grew to 70,000 daily readers. He helped organize Barcamp with other community leaders in 2006, which led to other events: Dallas Startup Happy Hour in 2008 and Dallas Startup Weekend in 2009.

“Call it southern hospitality, but fellow entrepreneurs, mentors, teachers, and investors are always welcoming and supportive of passionate and innovative people and ideas,” says Corey Egan, cofunder and CEO of iLumi Solutions.

Today, Muse says he could name over 180 startups active in Dallas. They are supported by the Tech Wildcatters accelerator, and coworking spaces like Common Desk, SpryRocket, Workhaus, and Dallas Cowork. Dallas’s cost of living is lower than in major cities like New York or San Francisco, and entrepreneurs have the grit to overcome the challenge of less available funding.

“Here in Dallas there’s … the Texas attitude that ‘it can be done,’” says Nelson Olavarrieta, CEO of CelebratePlus.

Here is Muse’s full presentation about the history of the Dallas startup scene: