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Entrepreneurship can be exhilarating — but it can also be isolating. Founders often carry the weight of leadership, strategy, hiring decisions, and financial risk without many people who truly understand the pressure. Increasingly, business owners are turning to peer-driven communities for support, insight, and accountability.

One of the most prominent of these communities is the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), a global network of more than 19,000 influential business owners across 86 countries. Built on the belief that entrepreneurs grow best when they learn from one another, EO creates a space where founders can openly share challenges, test ideas, and gain perspective from peers who have faced similar decisions.

A 360-Degree Approach to Growth
Unlike traditional business groups that focus solely on revenue and scale, EO emphasizes holistic development. The organization encourages members to pursue what it calls “360-degree growth” — improving not only their businesses but also their personal lives, leadership skills, and overall well-being.

Through mentorship, peer forums, and curated learning experiences, members gain tools to better balance the demands of entrepreneurship with life outside the office. The goal is not just stronger companies, but stronger leaders.

A Global Network of Entrepreneurs
Connection sits at the center of the EO experience. Members become part of a trusted community of entrepreneurs who exchange ideas, challenge assumptions, and celebrate wins together. These peer relationships often provide clarity that founders can’t easily find inside their own organizations.

EO also opens doors to world-class education opportunities. Members can access proprietary programs and leadership experiences developed in collaboration with leading institutions such as London Business School, Harvard Business School, and The Wharton School. These programs combine academic insight with practical founder experience.

But for many entrepreneurs, the most valuable lessons come directly from fellow members. See how founders feel about the forum experience and the insights they've gained from other participants:

Q: What’s the biggest business change you made because of EO peer advice, and what single metric moved?

A: “My EO Forum encouraged me to slow down long enough to see my blind spots. I stopped running the company purely on instinct and intensity, and I started building real structure, accountability, and leadership around me.” -Jeremy Jenson, Encore Search Partners

A: “Joined and utilized EOS and have quadrupled our business.” —Mark Thiessen, Thiessen Law Firm

Q: What tough moment did EO help you navigate, and what was the outcome?

A: “Changing my business model to focus on one service and one service only — lawn sprinkler system repairs. We have seen greatly improved labor efficiency rates and profit margins.” —Jason Troth, Sprinkler Repair Professionals

A: “My forum helped me navigate and get past a health issue that had derived into a depression.” —Alejandro Cortez, SAI Environmental Services

Q: What’s the best “playbook” you borrowed from another member?

A: “Show up on time. Do what you say. Finish what you start. Say please and thank you.” —Robert Wagnon, W5Ranches

A: “You have to confidently ask for the business. Don’t chase clients at pricing that does not work.” —Pete Patterson, Patterson PC

The Power of Peer Insight
For many founders, the biggest breakthroughs don’t come from books or consultants—they come from conversations with other entrepreneurs who have walked the same path.

Peer-driven organizations like EO are redefining how leaders grow. By combining trusted relationships, shared experience, and access to world-class education, they create an environment where founders can think bigger, lead better, and build businesses that last.

And perhaps most importantly, they remind entrepreneurs that while building a company can feel lonely, they don’t have to do it alone.

Texas has returned to the top 5 among best states to start a business. Photo via Getty Images

Texas ranks among the 5 best states to start a business in 2025

Best for Biz

As one of the largest states in the U.S., it's no surprise Texas is big on business and entrepreneurship. Now the state is earning new praise among WalletHub's 2025 list of "Best & Worst States to Start a Business."

The Lone Star State claimed the No. 4 spot in the report's rankings, proving that Texas is in a much better business shape than it was last year when it earned No. 8 in WalletHub's annual report.

The study compared all 50 states across 25 metrics to determine the best places to start, grow, and find success with a new business. Factors that were considered include the number of startups per capita, job growth rates, financing accessibility measures, labor costs and corporate tax rates.

The three states to outperform Texas in the 2025 report are Florida (No. 1), Georgia (No. 2), and Utah (No. 3). Idaho rounded out the top five.

Across the study's three main categories, Texas performed the best in the "business environment" category, earning No. 1 nationally. This section compares the states based on five-year business survival rates, average business revenues growth and more.

Texas ranked No. 12 in the nationwide comparison of "access to resources" – which covers working age population growth, venture investment amounts per capita and other means – and earned a fair No. 34 in the report's "business costs" ranking.

But Texas can still do better with its business friendliness to reclaim a top-three overall ranking, which the state last earned in 2023.

WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in the report that it is imperative for potential new business owners to establish their enterprise in a place that can maximize their ability to succeed.

"Around half of all new businesses don’t survive five years, so the idea of becoming a business owner can be daunting, especially with the current high cost of living," Lupo said. "The best states have low corporate tax rates, strong economies, an abundance of reliable workers, easy access to financing and affordable real estate. On top of that, you’ll need to make sure you start in a place with an engaged customer base, if you’re operating locally."

Houston has also proven to be at the top of the destination list for entrepreneurs who are looking for their next venture.

The top 10 best states to start a new business in 2025 are:

  • No. 1 – Florida
  • No. 2 – Georgia
  • No. 3 – Utah
  • No. 4 – Texas
  • No. 5 – Idaho
  • No. 6 – Oklahoma
  • No. 7 – Nevada
  • No. 8 – Colorado
  • No. 9 – Arizona
  • No. 10 – Kentucky
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This story originally appeared on our sister site, CultureMap.

CNBC’s ranking doesn't think too kindly of Texas. Photo via Getty Images

Texas named No. 2 worst state to live, but one of the best for business

mixed messages

It’s a tale of two states. A new study from CNBC ranks Texas as the fifth best state for doing business. But CNBC simultaneously puts Texas in second place among the worst states to live.

Texas rates poorly for life, health, and inclusion, CNBC says. In fact, the Lone Star state holds the No. 49 spot in that category. Texas’ weaknesses include childcare, health resources, inclusiveness, and voting rights, according to CNBC.

Skilled workers continue to flock to Texas despite lingering quality-of-life issues, CNBC says.

“But when they arrive, they are finding limited childcare options, a stressed health care system with the highest rate of uninsured, new curbs on voting rights, and few protections against discrimination,” CNBC says.

Only Arizona fared worse on CNBC’s list of the worst states to live.

In 2021, Texas wound up at No. 31 on U.S. News & World Report’s list of the best states. Texas’ highest rankings came in the economy (No. 9) and fiscal stability (No. 10) categories. But it notched rankings below 30 in five other categories: healthcare (No. 31), education (No. 34), crime and corrections (No. 37), opportunity (No. 39), and natural environment (No. 40).

Louisiana came in last place on U.S. News’ list of the best states.

Despite its poor showing in the CNBC study as a place to live, Texas claims the No. 5 spot in the cable news network’s study of the best states for doing business. It ranks especially high for its workforce (No. 2), technology and innovation (No. 4), and economy (No. 8). In CNBC’s 2021 study, Texas landed at No. 4 among the best states for doing business.

This year, North Carolina grabs the CNBC crown as the best state for business, up from second place in 2021.

In an interview last year with CNBC, Gov. Greg Abbott emphasized Texas’ growing stature as a business magnet.

“We continue to see a massive influx of these employers coming to the state of Texas because, candidly, not only do they like the business environment, but … there’s a lot of businesses and a lot of Americans who like the social positions that the state of Texas is taking,” said Abbott, referring to recent legislative restrictions on abortion and voting rights.

Abbott went on to note that Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, decided in late 2021 to shift the headquarters of the automaker from “very liberal” California to Texas.

“People vote with their feet,” the governor said, “and this [wave of socially conservative legislation] is not slowing down businesses coming to the state of Texas at all. In fact, it is accelerating the process of businesses coming to Texas.”

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

WalletHub ranks these Texas towns among the best for starting a business. Photo via Getty Images

These are the best small cities in Texas to start a business

Where to work

When it comes to launching a business in Texas, you might want to look into the suburbs that surround the state's major metros.

Personal finance website WalletHub ranked the best and worst small towns to start a business — and the Lone Star State had plenty of suburbs making the top 400 in the list of more than 1,300 towns.

The report found that Georgetown as the best small city in Texas for starting a business. The website classifies a small city as one with a population of 25,000 to 100,000. The Austin suburb appears at No. 70 on the list overall, and No. 1 in Texas. It scored particularly well in the access to resources category (No. 26) and business environment category (No. 31).

To determine the best small cities for startups, WalletHub compared the business-friendly nature of more than 1,300 small cities across the country. Among the factors it examined were average growth in number of businesses, labor costs, and investor access.

Houston suburbs didn't manage to crack the top 200, but four were recognized amongst the rest of the best small busissiness towns:

  • Texas City , No. 202
  • Baytown, No. 267
  • Deer Park, No. 362
  • Conroe, No. 369

Washington, Utah, nabbed the top spot nationally, along with four other Utah cities in the top 10.

“Size matters when choosing a city in which to launch a startup. As many veteran entrepreneurs — and failed startups — understand well, bigger is not always better,” WalletHub says. “A city with a smaller population can offer a greater chance of success, depending on an entrepreneur’s type of business and personal preferences.”

Elsewhere in Texas, other highly ranked small cities in include:

  • Farmers Branch (Dallas-Fort Worth), No. 102
  • Pflugerville lands (Austin), No. 150
  • San Marcos (Austin), No. 181
  • West Odessa, No. 193
  • Leander (Austin), No. 250
  • Kyle (Austin), No. 258
  • Greenville (Dallas-Fort Worth), No. 275
  • Cedar Park (Austin), No. 280
  • Waxahachie (Dallas-Fort Worth), No. 306
  • Huntsville, No. 308
  • Hurst (Dallas-Fort Worth), No. 312
  • Socorro (El Paso), No. 339
  • Sherman, No. 368
  • Seguin (San Antonio), No. 375

Baytown, Port Arthur, and Texas City tied for first place in the U.S. in terms of highest average revenue per business.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

Three Houston companies will pitch in Rice University's competition for veteran-owned startups. Courtesy of Rice University

3 Houston startups to compete in Rice University's Veterans Business Battle

It's on.

Rice University will soon play host to its 2019 Veterans Business Battle, where 20 veteran-owned companies — three of which are from Houston — will pitch their business models and compete for prize money and investment offers.

On April 12, the 20 semifinalists will pitch to a panel of investors, who will choose the top five. Those finalists will pitch the next ay, April 13, in hopes of taking home some of the awards.

"We are very excited about the great group of companies that are coming to Houston next month," says event co-chairman Asad Akram in a release. "It's our goal to introduce them to a network that can help their businesses grow and succeed."

The Houston-based companies competing are Amor Oral, Welcome Connect and FeedMe Fitness, according to a release from Rice University. Amor Oral specializes in the manufacturing and sale of edible, organic personal lubricants. The company's lubricants are all water-based, and Amor Oral claims to offer the largest selection of flavored personal lubricants in the U.S.

FeedMe Fitness, another Houston competitor, is a subscription service that offers customized workouts and meal plans to its subscribers. Welcome Connect is a real estate platform that connects real estate agents with prospective buyers.

More than $3 million has been invested in veteran-owned businesses since the competition's launch in 2015. All the competitors are ultimately after the same thing: investments that will help them launch or expand. The competitor pool includes newly launched ventures and owner-operated businesses, per the Rice release, and all semifinalists can potentially receive investment offers.

A handful of competitors are from Texas. Those competitors include the Dallas-based companies And I Like It and City Gym, Floresville-based Harvard Telemedicine, Fort Worth-based Harvest Returns, Wimberly-based Power Polymer, Corpus Christ-based Rock N Roe Aquaponics, and Bryan-based Zanbazan.

The remaining competitors from around the U.S. are:

  • Gotta Have It Fan Foams, from Springfield, Virginia
  • Family Proud, from San Diego
  • High Country Air Service, from Albuquerque, New Mexico
  • Knifehand Nutrition, from Syracuse, New York
  • Maco, from New York
  • Off Duty Blue, from Syracuse, New York
  • Randian, from Los Angeles
  • Reimbi, from Portland, Oregon
  • Safe Stamp, from Nashville
  • SEE ID, from Newcastle, Washington
According to research done by a Rice University professor, businessmen and women are more likely to help out colleagues who attended the same university. Pexels

Rice University research finds that investors and executives are more likely to help out those from their alma mater

Houston Voices

Friends help each other out, right? Imagine young men or women racing down a New England playing field, effortlessly passing a lacrosse ball on their way to the goal. Now imagine some of those old friends as CEOs of large firms, and others as managers of mutual funds. Do they still have each other's backs?

That was the question Rice Business Professor Alexander W. Butler explored in a recent paper. What he found makes perfect sense given human nature, and raises serious questions about the dynamics of the financial market.

Yes, Butler and his coauthor, Umit G. Gurun of the University of Texas at Dallas, found, CEOs of publicly traded corporations and mutual fund managers from the same schools do appear to help each other out. It may be conscious or unconscious: they do what friends do the world over. But the effect on the market can be profound.

To trace the role of social connections in the world of corporate and finance, Butler and Gurun studied how mutual fund managers vote when shareholders proposed limiting executive pay. They cross-referenced these data with information about the educational background of the firms' executives and of the mutual fund managers who took part in the votes.

When voting fund managers and an executive went to the same schools, Butler found, those halcyon days at A&M or Wharton clearly corresponded to fewer votes to limit executive pay.

Now, this may reflect all kinds of things. Shared school ties could mean fund managers have more relevant information about a firm's CEO and his or her value. The shared culture and vocabulary of a school environment might ease information flow between a CEO and managers. But there is also another possibility: Perhaps the value a mutual fund manager places on a CEO's firm has nothing to do with the company's actual value. The manager may simply support him because he's a school friend.

CEOs weren't the only ones to benefit from old-school ties. Well-connected investors prospered too. When a fund manager shared a school background with a given CEO, Butler found, the fund outperformed funds whose managers weren't part of the network. For investors as well as CEOs, in other words, school ties with decision makers at mutual funds raised the chances of a winning outcome.

So a shared school or social background leads to well-paid CEOs, successful fund managers and happy investors. What's not to celebrate?

Plenty, it turns out.

The better trading outcomes of well-connected mutual fund managers have implications far beyond one happy set of shareholders. The Securities and Exchange Commission protects a level playing field because it's in the public interest for the U.S. financial markets to be liquid.

Consumers buy and sell stocks more easily when they are confident that a product's price is reasonably close to its actual value. When one party seems to know more about a stock – perhaps through friendship with the CEO – other investors may lose confidence that they can assess the value of stocks as accurately. When too many consumers distrust the market, liquidity drops. Fewer people buy and sell.

Think how much it easier it is to buy a used car with public resources such as Carfax, or pre-owned car certifications. In the past, a buyer had to wonder what a car seller knew but wasn't saying – or else try to buy a car from someone she already knew and trusted.

Almost everyone has a friend. Almost everyone has experienced the memories, common lingo, and wordless sense of goodwill that come from sharing a common history. Butler and Gurun's study of corporate and financial markets, however, shows how these natural instincts can disadvantage players outside the alumni circle. Shareholders may have less power to limit CEO pay. And consumers may end up less confident about the value of stocks, shaking trust in the financial markets overall. Surely, that's not what friends are for.

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This article originally appeared on Rice Business Wisdom.

Alexander W. Butler is a professor of finance at Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University.

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Intuitive Machines lands $180M NASA contract for lunar delivery mission

to the moon

NASA has awarded Intuitive Machines a $180.4 million Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) award to deliver science and technology to the moon.

This is the fifth CLPS award the Houston spacetech company has received from NASA, according to a release. It will be the first mission to utilize Intuitive Machines' larger cargo lunar lander, Nova-D.

Known as IM-5, the mission is expected to deliver seven payloads to Mons Malapert, a ridge near the Lunar South Pole, which is a "compelling location for future communications, navigation, and surface infrastructure," according to the release.

“We believe our space infrastructure provides the scalability and flexibility needed to support an increased cadence of new Artemis missions and advance national objectives. This CLPS award accelerates our expansion efforts as we build, connect, and operate the systems powering that infrastructure,” Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines, said in the release. “We look forward to working closely with NASA to deliver mission success on IM-5 and to provide sustained operations and persistent connectivity in the cislunar environment and across the solar system.”

The delivery will include the Australian Space Agency’s lunar rover, known as Roo-ver, and another lunar rover from Honeybee Robotics, a part of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. Intuitive Machines will also deliver chemical analysis instruments, radiation detectors and other technologies, as well as a capsule named Sanctuary that shows examples of human achievements.

Intuitive Machines previously completed its IM-1 and IM-2 missions, which put the first commercial lunar lander on the moon and achieved the southernmost lunar landing, respectively.

Its IM-3 mission is expected to deliver international payloads to the moon's Reiner Gamma this year. It’s IM-4 mission, funded by a $116.9 million CLPS award, is expected to deliver six science and technology payloads to the Moon’s South Pole in 2027.

The company also announced a $175 million equity investment to fuel growth earlier this month.

TotalEnergies exits U.S. offshore wind sector in $1B federal deal

Energy News

TotalEnergies, a French company whose U.S. headquarters is in Houston, has agreed to redirect nearly $930 million in capital from two offshore wind leases on the East Coast to oil, natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) production.

In its agreement with the U.S. Department of the Interior, TotalEnergies has also promised not to develop new offshore wind projects in the U.S. “in light of national security concerns,” according to a department press release.

Federal agency hails ‘landmark agreement’

The Department of the Interior called the deal a “landmark agreement” that will steer capital “from expensive, unreliable offshore wind leases toward affordable, reliable natural gas projects that will provide secure energy for hardworking Americans.”

Renewable energy advocates object to what they believe is the Trump administration’s mischaracterization of offshore wind projects.

Under the Department of the Interior agreement, the federal government will reimburse TotalEnergies on a dollar-for-dollar basis for the leases, up to the amount that the energy company paid.

“Offshore wind is one of the most expensive, unreliable, environmentally disruptive, and subsidy-dependent schemes ever forced on American ratepayers and taxpayers,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in the announcement. “We welcome TotalEnergies’ commitment to developing projects that produce dependable, affordable power to lower Americans' monthly bills while providing secure U.S. baseload power today — and in the future.”

TotalEnergies cites U.S. policy in move away from U.S. wind power

In the news release, Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, says the company was “pleased” to sign the agreement to support the Trump administration’s energy policy.

“Considering that the development of offshore wind projects is not in the country’s interest, we have decided to renounce offshore wind development in the United States, in exchange for the reimbursement of the lease fees,” Pouyanné says.

TotalEnergies redirects capital to LNG, oil, and natural gas

TotalEnergies will use the $928 million it spent on the offshore wind leases for development of a joint venture LNG plant in the Rio Grande Valley, as well as for production of upstream oil in the Gulf of Mexico and for production of shale gas.

“These investments will contribute to supplying Europe with much-needed LNG from the U.S. and provide gas for U.S. data center development. We believe this is a more efficient use of capital in the United States,” Pouyanné says.

TotalEnergies paid $133.3 million for an offshore wind lease at the Carolina Long Bay project off the coast of North Carolina and $795 million in 2022 for a lease covering a 1,545-megawatt commercial offshore wind facility off the coast of New Jersey.

“TotalEnergies’ studies on these leases have shown that offshore wind developments in the United States, unlike those in Europe, are costly and might have a negative impact on power affordability for U.S. consumers,” TotalEnergies said in a company-issued press release. “Since other technologies are available to meet the growing demand for electricity in the United States in a more affordable way, TotalEnergies considers there is no need to allocate capital to this technology in the U.S.”

Since 2022, TotalEnergies has invested nearly $12 billion to promote the development of oil, LNG, and electricity in the U.S. In 2025, TotalEnergies was the No. 1 exporter of LNG from the U.S.

Industry groups push back on offshore wind pullback

The American Clean Energy Association has pushed back on the Trump administration’s characterization of offshore wind projects.

“The offshore wind industry creates thousands of high-quality, good-paying jobs, and is revitalizing American manufacturing supply chains and U.S. shipyards,” Jason Grumet, the association’s CEO, said in December after the Trump administration paused all leases for large-scale offshore wind projects under construction in the U.S. “It is a critical component of our energy security and provides stable, domestic power that helps meet demand and keep costs low.”

Grumet added that President Trump’s “relentless attacks on offshore wind undermine his own economic agenda and needlessly harm American workers and consumers.” He called for passage of federal legislation that would prevent the White House “from picking winners and losers” in the energy sector and “placing political ideology” above Americans’ best interests.

The National Resources Defense Council offered a similar response to the offshore wind leases being paused.

“In its ongoing effort to prop up waning fossil fuels interests, the administration is taking wilder and wilder swings at the clean energy projects this economy needs,” said Pasha Feinberg, the council’s offshore wind strategist. “Investments in energy infrastructure require business certainty. This is the opposite. If the administration thinks the chilling impacts of this action are limited to the clean energy sector, it is sorely mistaken.”

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This article originally appeared on EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

Houston researcher examines how AI helps and hurts creativity

eye on ai

As artificial intelligence continues to grow and seeps into spaces like art, design and writing, a Houston researcher is examining its effects on creativity.

University of Houston’s Bauer College Assistant Professor Jinghui Hou, in collaboration with scholars around the world, recently published the paper "The Double-Edged Roles of Generative AI in the Creative Process" in the journal Information Systems Research.

Through the research, the team identified two stages of creativity that AI can influence: ideation and implementation.

In one study, Hou and her team developed a lab experiment to examine the impact of a cutting-edge generative AI tool during the brainstorming or ideation phase on a group of designers with varying levels of expertise.

The study showed that nearly all designers who used generative AI during this stage improved in the creativity of their graphic design work, and that the improvements were substantial and consistent across the board.

“In the first stage, we find that for anyone, including ordinary people and expert designers, AI is very helpful because of its computational power,” Hou said in a news release. “It can go beyond the imagination that humans have. For example, if I wanted to imagine a tiger with wings, it would be hard to see that in my head, but AI can do it easily.”

However, a second study examining the implementation stage found that AI affects professionals differently than novice designers.

The study showed that novice designers continued to improve in all aspects of their work when using AI. But more expert designers did not see significant improvements in the implementation stage. Rather, expert designers who used AI spent 57 percent more time completing their work compared with their peers who did not use AI.

“In the implementation stage, we find that AI is still very helpful for those ordinary people, but it creates more work for expert designers,” Hou said in the release. “This is because the designer has years of training to materialize a piece of artwork. We find that AI uses different techniques to produce creative work. For designers, it can become burdensome to revise what AI made.”

Hou’s paper suggests that AI is most helpful in the brainstorming stage, but hopes to see generative AI developers program tailor the technology for expert-level, professional needs.

“It could give users more freedom to fit the technology to their usage pattern and workflow,” Hou added. “In a sense, it's not about people catering to the AI, but the AI technology catering to people."