Builders Live

Entrepreneurship in America is at a pivotal moment. While more people are starting businesses, a small sliver are growing big and fast and far more are not growing at all, with the middle hollowing out. As AI decentralizes the ability to start a company, how can policymakers and ecosystem leaders encourage new business formation while ensuring the gains don't all go to the firms with the most data, compute and capital?

Technical.ly CEO and cofounder Chris Wink is joined by Center for American Entrepreneurship founder & president John Dearie for a conversation about how to achieve a stronger, more resilient and inclusive U.S. economy through thriving entrepreneurship.

Recorded May 20, 2026.

As entrepreneurship becomes more accessible, the geography of where founders start companies is expanding. New data from LinkedIn shows Gen Z founder growth accelerating across nearly every major U.S. metro, often fastest outside traditional startup hubs, reflecting a move toward flexible “portfolio careers,” where networks, personal branding and digital tools are key.

Technical.ly CEO and cofounder Chris Wink is joined by LinkedIn Director of Data Science and Research Sharat Raghavan for a conversation about how the use of AI, shifting career priorities and evolving definitions of success are reshaping how businesses are started and grow.

Recorded May 13, 2026.

As the United States approaches its 250th birthday, this live recording in Philadelphia takes up a big question: why does entrepreneurship remain such a powerful American ideal — and what would it take for that ideal to mean more than branding, politics or founder mythology? With voices from policy, ecosystem building and investment, this conversation explores entrepreneurship as a source of agency, ownership and civic renewal, while confronting the ways it is often diluted, co-opted or kept out of reach.

Technical.ly cofounder and CEO Christopher Wink is joined by Victor Hwang of Right to Start, venture investor Rae'Mah Henderson and Hollie Mackey of the NSF AgTech Engine in North Dakota for this wide-ranging discussion.

Recorded May 7, 2026 at the Technical.ly Builders Conference.

Nexus Louisiana has a goal to create 1000 new local tech startups by 2035 — but how is the org working to achieve that? What can those in Louisiana do to help, and what should other states and ecosystems learn from this start?

Technical.ly CEO and cofounder Chris Wink is joined by Nexus president and CEO Tony Zanders for a conversation about what it takes to bolster entrepreneurship and when it makes sense to have local, regional and statewide goals.

Recorded April 29, 2026.

Is the American entrepreneurship economy becoming k-shaped? The current business incorporation boom does include many thriving companies, but also many "solopreneurs" who are earning less than their traditionally-employed peers. When we say entrepreneurship is booming, are we conflating two very different stories? Are we celebrating necessity entrepreneurship — people fleeing a broken labor market — as if it were opportunity entrepreneurship?

Builders Live co-hosts Victor Hwang of Right to Start, venture investor Rae'Mah Henderson, Taylor Eubanks of Midwest House and Technical.ly cofounder and CEO Christopher Wink discuss how we can address the needs of these two groups to support economic development for all.

Recorded April 22, 2026.

In 2018, New Jersey launched the State Office of Innovation, which this January became codified in law as the New Jersey Innovation Authority — the first state to create a permanent Cabinet-level digital services team. During his time as CIO over the past two years, Dave Cole has worked to improve the lives of New Jersey residents through the use of data, collective intelligence, agile technology and tools such as AI. As technology becomes increasingly important to delivering government services and solving public problems, what has the agency accomplished so far and what can other states learn from it?

Technical.ly CEO and cofounder Chris Wink is joined by New Jersey CIO Dave Cole for a conversation about what it means to have a codified and permanent state-level digital services team, how NJ is leveraging tech and AI to be more efficient and effective, what the private and public sectors can learn from each other, and more.

Recorded April 15, 2026.

Since becoming Maryland's Lieutenant Governor, Aruna Miller has focused on matters including transportation, mental health, STEM equity and more. With a background as a civil and transportation engineer, she has a unique perspective on how the government can influence economic growth and remove systemic barriers to opportunity.

Technical.ly CEO and cofounder Chris Wink is joined by Maryland Lt. Governor Aruna Miller for a conversation about how the state government is factoring AI into its workforce development strategy, autonomous vehicles' impacts on transportation infrastructure, how to make decisions around complex tech and economic issues, and more.

Recorded April 1, 2026.

Many thriving ecosystems have long had one name and face attached to them — the person everyone credits with "making it happen." But is that a feature or a bug? When we celebrate ecosystem heroes, are we building something sustainable, or just setting ourselves up for a crisis when they move on?

Builders Live co-hosts Victor Hwang of Right to Start, venture investor Rae'Mah Henderson, Taylor Eubanks of Midwest House, Hollie Mackey of the NSF AgTech Engine in North Dakota, and Technical.ly cofounder and CEO Christopher Wink discuss if the "hero ecosystem" is a red flag or a green light, and how to build resilience without losing momentum.

Recorded on March 25, 2026.

As AI becomes increasingly prominent, the backlash grows along with it. How can tech leaders distinguish between productive skepticism and reactionary distrust, and how can they demonstrate AI's value while acknowledging rational criticisms?

Technical.ly CEO and cofounder Chris Wink is joined by Kumar Garg of Renaissance Philanthropy for a conversation about how to balance AI-driven economic opportunity with public concern about job loss, bias and misinformation.

Recorded March 18, 2026.

If new businesses create most net new jobs, why isn’t entrepreneurship already the center of economic development? Is it really about economics — or more about politics and incentives?

Builders Live co-hosts Victor Hwang of Right to Start, Brian Brackeen of Lightship Capital, Rae'Mah Henderson of Techstars and Technical.ly cofounder and CEO Chris Wink discuss entrepreneurship's place in economic development strategy, and how to get ecosystems to stop chasing big employers and focus on growing our own.

Recorded on February 25, 2026.