Company formation is migrating to second cities — and staying there
The distributed-work experiment has produced durable ecosystems outside the traditional hubs.
Entrepreneurship DeskPublished 2 days ago
The early distributed-work era produced dispersion without ecosystems: founders left the hubs and found no local capital, no senior operators, and no second job to move to.
That is changing where three conditions coincide — a research university, one anchor exit that recycled talent, and a local fund willing to lead rather than follow.
Cities that have assembled all three are compounding. Those that assembled only the first are still exporting their graduates.
Drafted with AI assistance and reviewed by the Leaders & Impact editorial desk. Sourcing and factual assertion remain human-owned.