The Generosity Flywheel: A Key Driver in Arizona’s Startup Community

By Brandon Clarke (brandon clarke)

The flywheel is an incredibly efficient and effective technology with a remarkable ability to store and release energy. Its beauty lies in its ability to retain a great deal of kinetic energy and redistribute it back to the engine. And though it needs a lot of force to get it started, it also needs a lot of force to make it stop — which, as it turns out, is not unlike the growth and vitality of the Valley’s startup and innovation community.

I think it’s safe to say that our flywheel is spinning and only gaining momentum — and that’s thanks, in large part, to the spirit of generosity that is very much alive in this town. There is an undeniable linkage between performance and generosity, and over the last several years, Phoenix’s flywheel has been building up a tremendous amount of kinetic energy and momentum, which has been dependent on three things: its velocity, how much friction it encounters, and its mass.

Picking up speed, and then…

Velocity of the flywheel increases when force is added to the areas that have the biggest impact. And one force that has delivered a powerful impact is generosity.

Generosity comes in all forms — the giving of time, expertise, knowledge, being open and…