As a person who grew up in rural America and who now lives in Washington, D.C., I've thought deeply about about the bridges we need to build to span the perspective differences between urban and rural populations.
As I've traveled in the sparsely-populated West, I learned that many of the communities here don't think of themselves as rural, but as a special set of rural—frontier communities. They face even greater challenges in access to services like medical care, a variety of fresh and healthy foods, and paved roads.
I realized I faced a similar challenge when articulating the needs of venture-backed hard-tech company.
Most people think about startups as software companies that can build and ship products then realize revenue on 12-36 month timelines. The resource and partnership requirements are vastly different for software startups versus capital-intensive hard tech companies with more uncertainty around technology maturity timelines.
Now I have an even better understanding of why emerging hard-tech companies are considered "frontier technologies."
Another milestone today as I say goodbye to windy Wyoming and hello to colorful Colorado.
