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Shaolee Sen gets hit up for startup advice a lot. She grew up watching her mom build a small business in New York City, later ran her own NYC culinary social enterprise, and now spends her days hunting for the gaps in America’s small-business ecosystem and writing checks.
Sen runs small-business philanthropy at JP Morgan Chase & Co., working with nonprofit partners and community leaders to expand access to capital and information for entrepreneurs. One of her current programs aims to answer a big question for founders: what city should I start a company in?
The answer to that question lies in the Advancing Regional Innovation Economies report, a multi-year study from the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, which JPMorganChase supported with Nasdaq.
Here are the top five cities the study found:
Albany–Schenectady–Troy, NY Austin–Round Rock, TX San Diego–Carlsbad, CA San Francisco–Oakland–Hayward, CA Pittsburgh, PA
Get the entire list here
Sen sat down with Entrepreneur to explain what separates the top cities for entrepreneurship, the value for businesses in having a relationship with local colleges, the trend of small and mid-size companies giving a stake in the companies, and why everyone needs a business mantra.
What have you learned about the top geographies in the U.S. for entrepreneurs?
The most entrepreneurial cities make it easy for entrepreneurs to access real estate, talent, capital, and customers. The Advancing Regional Innovation Economies (ARIE) report highlights places like Columbus, New Orleans, and Minneapolis–St. Paul, where strong public-private partnerships and easily accessible resources drive business success. Columbus in particular stands out in the report for its deeply aligned entrepreneurial ecosystem anchored by Ohio State’s research “gravity” and a diversified industry customer base. This alignment is paired with capital access partners who focus on “hot handoffs” that help entrepreneurs navigate capital and support without getting stuck in redundant programming.
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