Startup Challenges and the Future of Work

Steve Case is one of America’s best-known and most accomplished entrepreneurs and a pioneer in making the Internet part of everyday life. In 1985 he co-founded America Online (AOL), which became the world’s largest and most valuable Internet company, helping to drive the worldwide adoption of a medium that has transformed business and society. For the past 15 years, Steve’s focus has been on starting and scaling Revolution, the Washington DC-based investment firm that backs entrepreneurs at every stage of their development through Revolution Growth, Revolution Ventures, and Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, which has invested in more than 140 startups in over 70 U.S. cities.

During this #DreamitLive interview, we discuss advice Steve gives startups, where startups should be focusing their time, and what distractions founders should be tuning out. With the COVID-19 pandemic in mind, we talk with Steve about his thoughts on how this changes startups’ top priorities, creates new opportunities, and which business models might be at risk. We also take a deep look at a favorite topic of Steve’s: the growth of innovation ecosystems outside of the major tech hubs, what he calls “the Rise of the Rest.” For decades, most high tech investors have focused on three prominent geographies - the Bay Area, Boston, and New York City. How will COVID-19 accelerate or decelerate the growth of startup communities in these rising cities across the U.S.?

In this interview with Steve Case:

New opportunities emerging in a post-COVID business environment and what businesses are most at risk
How the current business environment might affect trends outlined in Steve’s book The Third Wave
How COVID-19 might affect the future of work and the locations where founders choose to launch and operate businesses
The potential long-term impacts and second-order effects of shorter commutes, lower costs of living, and higher quality of life that some workers are experiencing during this pandemic and how large tech companies may adjust policies as a result
New entrepreneurial ecosystems that may blossom and how venture capital paradigms might shift as a result
How startups can capitalize and thrive on trends like distributed work and adjust to business development activities moving online