Rankings aren’t just a scoreboard. They’re a map. Dealroom’s Yoram Wijngaarde and StartupBlink’s Eli David Rokah join the show to unpack ecosystem momentum, enterprise-value growth, and the business-environment factors that move founders, corporates, and capital. We read the global rankings with Austin as a live case study, setting its momentum against incumbent hubs to find the signal in the noise. Highlights 00:59 Momentum as design choice in rankings 03:22 Enterprise-value growth vs VC funding 07:30 Austin’s outlier growth among peers 11:15 Rankings: conversation starter, decision tool 23:22 Policy mistakes become tailwinds 29:05 Clusters, super-regions, friction costs 37:15 Austin ranked 4th US, 5th global 42:47 AI shocks ecosystem volatility 44:06 What's Next Austin? Guest Bios Yoram Wijngaard: Founder of Dealroom.co which was launched in 2014 to provide intelligence about the world’s most promising startups and ecosystems. Before founding Dealroom, Yoram was an investment banker at Lehman Brothers, Nomura Securities and NOAH Advisors in New York and London. Yoram has a cum laude Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Amsterdam. Eli David Rokah: Founder and CEO of StartupBlink, advising governments and corporates worldwide and publishing the Global Startup Ecosystem Index. Guest Links Yoram Wijngaard: X , LinkedIn Dealroom: Website , The Global Tech Ecosystem Index 2025 Eli David Rokah: X , LinkedIn Startupblink: Website, The Global Startup Ecosystem Index Report 2025 ------------------- Austin Next Links: Website , X/Twitter , YouTube , LinkedIn Ecosystem Metacognition Substack
