Get Up and Go

Even with solid economy, startup activity strong in Texas

When economic conditions deteriorate, the pace of entrepreneurial activity quickens. The Kauffman Foundation, a treasure trove of entrepreneurship-related information, released its national study of entrepreneurial activity in 2008.

As the Dallas Morning News noted in its article this morning, Texas ranked 13th overall. Out of the 15 largest metropolitan areas (of which DFW is 4th and Houston 8th), the Metroplex tied for 7th place with San Francisco with 0.42% (420 entrepreneurs per 100,000 population), and the Houston area came in 9th with 0.34%. [Ed. Note: I read the stats differently than DMN.]

The national average was 0.32%, so DFW was significantly above average. That information can be interpreted different ways, and may actually indicate a bit stronger economic situation in H-town and its environs since job loss is a major catalyst for individuals to start their own ventures. .:.

The Cost of Free Speech

Being fined $25k for his two Twitter posts, Dallas Maverick's owner and billionaire Mark Cuban ended up paying $510.20 a word.

At that rate, even the famously terse Gettysburg Address would cost $141,835.60. No wonder Cuban cleverly notes in a later post: "can’t say no one makes money from twitter now. the nba does )"

According to Twitter.Grader.com, Cuban's 14,487 Followers rank him 2,587th among all Twitter users. That puts him in the upper one-tenth of 1 percent. .:.

Texas Triangle 10-K Filings

2008-2009 Texas Triangle 10-K filings

• Austin metro 10-K filings
• DFW Metroplex 10-K filings
• San Antonio metro 10-K filings
• Houston metro 10-K filings

Triangle Census - Megas, Metros & Micros

The following statistics are organized by urban (or non-urban) area, i.e., megapolitan, metropolitan, or micropolitan. Underneath its constituent counties are included with individual population and housing unit data.

City Profiles

• Austin
• Dallas
• Fort Worth
• Houston
• San Antonio
• Texas [Census.gov ]
• Texas [CityData.com]

The Metroplex Megapolitan Area
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA

• County: Dallas..... Population: 2,218,899 / Housing Units: 854,119
• Tarrant.....1,446,219 / 565,830
• Collin.....491,675 / 194,892
• Denton.....432,976 / 168,069
• Johnson.....126,811 / 46,269
• Ellis.....111,360 / 39,071
• Hunt.....76,596 / 32,490
• Wise.....48,793 / 19,242
• Delta.....5,327 / 2,410

Bayou City Megapolitan Area
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown MSA

• Harris.....3,400,578 / 1,298,130
• Fort Bend.....354,452 / 115,991
• Montgomery.....293,768 / 112,770
• Galveston.....250,158 / 111,733
• Brazoria.....241,767 / 90,628
• Liberty.....70,154 / 26,359
• Chambers.....26,031 / 10,336
• Austin.....23,590 / 10,205
• San Jacinto.....22,246 / 11,520

Southwest Megapolitan Area
Austin-Round Rock MSA

• Travis.....812,280 / 335,881
• Williamson.....249,967 / 90,325
• Hays.....97,589 / 35,643
• Bastrop.....57,733 / 22,254
• Caldwell.....32,194 / 11,901

San Antonio MSA

• Bexar.....1,392,931 / 521,359
• Guadalupe.....89,023 / 33,585
• Comal.....78,021 / 32,718
• Medina.....39,304 / 14,826
• Atascosa.....38,628 / 14,883
• Wilson.....32,408 / 12,110
• Kendall.....23,743 / 9,609
• Bandera.....17,645 / 9,503

Other Metropolitan Areas
College Station-Bryan MSA

• Brazos.....152,415 / 59,023
• Burleson.....16,470 / 8,197

Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood MSA

• Bell.....237,974 / 92,782
• Coryell.....74,978 / 21,776
• Lampasas.....17,762 / 7,601

Waco MSA

• McLennan.....213,517 / 84,795

12 Micropolitan Areas

Athens
• Henderson.....73,277 / 35,935
Bay City
• Matagorda.....37,957 / 18,611
Bonham
• Fannin.....31,242 / 12,887
Brenham
• Washington.....30,373 / 13,241
Corsicana
• Navarro.....45,124 / 18,449

El Campo

• Wharton.....41,188 / 16,606

Gainesville

• Cooke.....36,363 / 15,061

Huntsville

• Walker.....61,758 / 21,099

Mineral Wells

• Palo Pinto.....27,026 / 14,102

Palestine

• Anderson.....55,109 / 18,436

Paris

• Lamar.....48,499 / 21,113

Shermann-Denison

• Grayson.....110,595 / 48,315

Somerville + Granbury

• Hood.....41,100 / 19,105

Stephenville

• Erath.....33,001 / 14,422

Sulphur Springs

• Hopkins.....31,960 / 14,020

14 Non-Urban Counties

• Hill.....32,321 / 14,624
• Milam.....24,238 / 10,866
• Grimes.....23,552 / 9,490
• Limestone.....22,051 / 9,725
• Fayette.....21,804 / 11,113
• Colorado.....20,390 / 9,431
• DeWitt.....20,013 / 8,756
• Gonzales.....18,628 / 8,194
• Falls.....18,576 / 7,658
• Freestone.....17,867 / 8,138
• Bosque.....17,204 / 8,644
• Lee.....15,657 / 6,851
• Leon.....15,335 / 8,299
• Madison.....12,940 / 4,797

Honcho> Mark Langdale

President, George W. Bush Foundation

Updated: 1/29/2009

Mark Langdale is President of the George W. Bush Foundation. He is responsible for the development and operation of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, which will consist of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum and the George W. Bush Policy Institute. He assumed this responsibility in February 2008. He also serves as a member of the Foundation's Board of Directors.

From October 2005 to January 27, 2008, Mr. Langdale served as the United States Ambassador to Costa Rica. During his tenure as Ambassador, Mr. Langdale focused on the ratification of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which involved the first ever national referendum on a free trade agreement with the United States. He also negotiated and finalized the largest debt for nature swap in a multiparty agreement among the United States, Costa Rica, The Nature Conservancy and Conservation International, and reengaged Costa Rica in the regional security strategies of the United States in Central America.

From 1994 to 2005, Mr. Langdale was President of Posadas USA, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Grupo Posadas, the largest hotel management company in Latin America. Prior to that, Mr. Langdale served as Vice President of Thompson Realty Company in Dallas, Texas, where he was responsible for the management of a $200 million portfolio of diverse real estate investments.

Mr. Langdale served on the Board of Directors of Posadas USA, Inc. and was the Chairman of the Texas Department of Economic Development from 1997 to 2001.

He has a degree in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin and a Juris Doctor from the University of Houston. .:.

Source: SEC

Updates for Week of 02/07-02/14

Happenings in the Texas Triangle, the megapolitan region consisting of Houston, DFW, Austin and San Antonio.

1. DealFlow> TXCO Resources [San Antonio] reviewing strategic alternatives <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0936>
2. Honchos> Billionaire R. Allen Stanford [Houston] possibly under investigation by SEC <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0933>
3. Energy> Feast and famine for ethanol producers <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0931>
4. Boom, Crash, Presto> Creative Class' Richard Florida envisions how crash will reshape U.S. and Texas <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle09301>
5. Who Shot J.R.?> Relive the glory days of the oil boom with a Ewing Oil ball cap <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0930>
6. Energy> North Dakota could become the Texas of the Upper Midwest <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0929>
7. DealFlow> MC Companies [AZ] acquires Encore Management [Arlington] <http://tinyurl.com/texasdeal0004>
8. MicroCaseStudy> Clash of the Titans: Visualizing the growth of Wal-Mart vs. Target <http://1link.in/texastriangle-ytfev>
9. DealFlow> Arlington Neonatal Intensive Care, P.A. [Arlington] is acquired by MEDNAX, Inc. [FL] <http://tinyurl.com/texasdeal0003>
10. NonSequitur> A-Rod's doping explained by game theory... sheds no light on Madonna thing <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0927>
11. NewCapital> Money anyone? Maverick's owner Mark Cuban [Dallas] makes open call for biz plans <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0928>
12. DealFlow> ROUND2 Inc. [Austin] acquires PolymerCycle, LLC [Grand Prairie] <http://tinyurl.com/texasdeal0002>
13. DealFlow> Boundless Network [Austin] acquires Corporate Specialities [Dallas] <http://tinyurl.com/texasdeal0001>
14. NewCapital> Austin tech firms OneSpot and 7 Billion People haul in combined $7.2M <http://tinyurl.com/texascapital>.:.

Updates for Week of 02/01-02/06

Happenings in the Texas Triangle, the megapolitan region consisting of Houston, DFW, Austin and San Antonio.

1. Energy> Texas companies galore mentioned in The Deal's take on state of the oil & gas and alt energy <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0926>
2. Capital> UTIMCO's fund performance <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0925>
3. Dude... Chairman of UTIMCO board Robert Rowling resigns during state senate hearing, PEHub has the video <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0924>
4. Energy> Author Peter Schwartz says cleantech VCs don't GET energy and don't know what they're doing <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0923>
5. Face2Face> Tech-related Networking Groups [Austin ] <http://www.austinstartup.com/resources/>
6. Dealipedia> Viverae [Dallas] raises $6.5M from Frontier Capital [Charlotte, NC] <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0922>
7. Dealipedia> HomeAway [Austin] buys French Homelidays SAS based <http://tinyurl.com/algers>
8. DealFlow> Texas Pacific Group [Fort Worth] ends 2 yr. talks with sov fund/pension funds to buy stakes <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0921>
9. Dealipedia> IDC Westinghouse [Fort Worth] acquired by Sorenson Capital <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0919>
10. Honchos> NY Times catching Dell fever from Wall Street Journal <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0917>
11. Honchos> Mark Cuban [DFW] pursues offense as his best defense <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0916>
12. Honchos> The many faces of Michael S. Dell... tech visionary... philanthropist... VEGETABLE CAPITALIST <http://1link.in/texastriangle-mnyce>.:.

Updates for Week of 01/18-01/24

Happenings in the Texas Triangle, the megapolitan region consisting of Houston, DFW, Austin and San Antonio.

1. Epic> Rise and fall of Texas' oil titans (Cullen, Richardson, Hunt & Murchison) in NYTimes Book Review <http://preview.tinyurl.com/bcctae>
2. Dealipedia> Omniflight Helicopters (Addison) sells ATL operations to Air Methods (CO) <http://preview.tinyurl.com/bpq4e8>
3. Brightside> Austin not losing tech co. HQ, it's gaining a CEO <http://preview.tinyurl.com/a9qc3s>
4. Energy> What scarce oil storage in Cushing, OK, means for crude prices <http://preview.tinyurl.com/7q6zvx>
5. CreativeClass> Pastor T.D. Jakes [Dallas] New Movie (www.imdb.com/title/tt0795438) Breaks New Ground <http://preview.tinyurl.com/8g2pw5>
6. Trends> 2009 Bodes Well for Texas Airlines American, Continental & Southwest <http://preview.tinyurl.com/7v7ao9>
7. MoneyTrail> PEHub.com says ex-Aldus Equity xecs forming LEA Advisors [Dallas] <http://preview.tinyurl.com/7cxpln>
8. Dealipedia> Extreme Homemakeover Builder Wall Homes [Arlington] Files Chap. 11 <http://tinyurl.com/9hnv62>
9. Dealipedia> Stallion [Houston] Reconsiders IPO <http://tinyurl.com/9rbacj>
10. Texaphiles> Bush returns to state he loves <http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090121/D95R6HTO0.html>.:.

Bush Heads Home