Oklahoma Thoughts
The drive back from Texas and the rest of 2025
“What if everything could change? What if, more than simply meeting the great challenges of our time - from climate change to inequality and aging - we went far beyond them…” - Aaron Bastani
I drove the rented box truck back from Texas by myself this year. It’s a long drive made longer by necessary catnaps in gas station parking lots to go along with a night at a hotel in Missouri. But, as I said to a number of people before leaving, the time with my (very) tired thoughts truly is something I look forward to.
Between the naps and an audio book, I was able to let my thoughts return to everything we had accomplished in Texas. Nearly 9000 attendees. 70 some partners. 151 speakers. 4 days. Nice big shiny numbers, but to what end? How do you judge something that by its very design is only supposed to last a few days?
If you’ve read a few of these posts from me, you know that I come back to these “what’s it all for” questions a lot. But like… what else are you supposed to think about while driving through Oklahoma though?
Here then are my top 4 “Oklahoma Thoughts” w/ a little riff at the end:
It’s really all about the community. While it’s very cool and very impactful to be able to provide a literal stage for some of the best and brightest in the Midwest - the year over year connections are where I see the most impact.
The pent up energy post-covid has given way to something more sustainable. Everyone was so excited to get back out into the world in 2023 and even 2024 that it felt like “everyone” was at events like SXSW. This year we still had record attendance, but the crowd felt more intentional and purposeful. Folks that came were there for a reason.
Barring serious economic head winds, it really feels like the Midwest’s startup ecosystem is on the cusp of another step up. More cities and states are getting serious about supporting their ecosystems, and it feels as though more founders who exited in the past decade are getting back involved in something new. Feels exciting.
I kept having meandering thoughts that returning to a quick conversation I had with my friend Ambreen Tariq (and a panelist) from Outdoor Recreation Roundtable that I heard her mention to a few other people too.
Ambreen lives in DC and spends a lot of time with policymakers. The thing she couldn’t get over about Midwest House, and really Austin in general, was that people were optimistic about solving problems. I’m not going to quote her perfectly but she told me something like, “Everyone in DC is so down right now. Everything seems insurmountable. This has been a breath of fresh air.”
A word I use a lot when I’m talking about Midwest House is “density.” One of the hard parts of building an innovative business in the Midwest is that our ecosystem doesn’t have the kind of density (of talent, of capital, etc.) that the coasts do, and one of the goals of Midwest House is to create that density even for a short window of time.
The thing I’m now circling when I think about Midwest House 2025 is that we also need to provide a density of optimism. In the face of uncertainty, we need to provide space for the folks who are building and innovating to inspire and support each other.
Not an easy metric to track, but that doesn’t make it less worthy. Because even as the world changes and things get more difficult, we can still provide a place for those of us who believe that we can solve our problems with enough hard work, ingenuity, and collaboration to come together. That is no small thing.
I started this post with a quote from Aaron Bastani that I came across in Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s new book Abundance (which I really can’t stop talking about or recommend enough). I’m going to end it with one more quote because it’s been providing me with optimism in the face of uncertainty, and because it describes what could be almost be considered the ethos behind Midwest House.
“Abundance, as we define it, is a state. It is the state in which there is enough of what we need to create lives better than what we have had. And so we are focused on the building blocks of the future. Housing. Transportation. Energy. Health. And we are focused on the institutions and people that must build and invent that future.”- Abundance by Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson
So what’s next??? We’ll be dropping our event schedule for the rest of 2025 next week, but in the mean time check out the following opportunities around the region:
(Milwaukee)Applications are now open for Summerfest Tech’s 2025 Pitch Competition: APPLICATION. This year’s competition will have (4) categories (Healthcare/BioTech, Energy/Sustainability, Advance Manufacturing, & FinTech/InsureTech) with opportunities to connect with potential corporate partners in each.
(Detroit) Our partners at Venture 313 are teaming with the Transparent Collective to run a first ever “TC Week in the D” for underrepresented early stage founders 5/26-5/31. Apply now to be be a part of this transformative program: APPLY
(Chicago) 1871 is hosting a Birthday Bash & Farewell Party on 4/23 as they leave their location in the Merchandise Mart. Details to come on this one, but we expect to see a lot of our Chicago friends there.
(Indy) Discounted tickets are on sale now for Rally 2025. Also maybe take a look at joining us in Indy for the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in June.
(Grand Rapids) Midwest House has a few of our friends coming up to Start Garden on 4/15 to talk all things Angel Investing. Join us for “Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know About Angel Investing But Have Been Afraid to Ask” featuring Wolf Starr and James Feagin. It’ll be just the conversation to brighten your tax day.
Please don’t hesitate to holler at us with any events we might have missed. That’s all for now!
Great thoughts man! There’s something about the motion of the open road that aligns with thoughts that are also on a journey but moving towards a destination. Happy to have people like your making space and a platform for innovators like me!