Two stories in this week’s edition provide proof that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well, and with nurturing, it will provide the green shoots that the local economy needs to pull itself out of its long-term funk.
Written about for the first time is a startup named Fanium, a venture founded last year. Of its seven employees, five are still Brown University undergrads. Yet, despite their youth, the team has garnered nearly half a million dollars in capital, has products in the market and is in the middle of launching a new, breakthrough product.
A slightly more wizened Brown grad has founded Venture for America, a career-training program that aims to place newly minted graduates with startups in the hopes that they both energize their new employer but also soon start their own ventures and transform the economy.
When you hear people talk about stopping the brain-drain, these are the kinds of people that need to be convinced to put down roots here. All they need is a little more encouragement and a little less negativity. •