Inc. Magazine Spring 2026

It remains true as we move through 2026 that AI is both a generationally enormous technological advance ment and probably a bubble, a sea change that has nevertheless been hyped up too much. For Google, launching Gemini and AI-powered search, AI has proved to be a dynamo. Yet early-mover Microsoft has been criticized for misjudging demand for Copilot and spending heavily on data centers. And its marquee partner Open-AI has faced a somewhat bumpier road on the way to its IPO than we might have expected a year ago. While big tech companies vie for AI domination, and the nuances around AI and its role in work and society are still very much up for grabs, among smaller, private companies, the need to show a solid return on investment is…

1 Alison J. Stein Stein breaks down where startup activity is heating up across the country (page 15)—including Pittsburgh. The writer, who moved from Manhattan to the Steel City three years ago, jokes, “I'm used to self-correcting for New Yorker bias, but this was the first time I had to keep double-checking for a New Yinzer finger on the scale.” Her work has appeared in The Atlantic and New York. 2 Carrie Sun For our cover story, Jersey City, New Jersey-based writer Sun explores how Kalshi co-founder Luana Lopes Lara became the world's youngest female self-made billionaire (page 66). “She and her co-founder pursued regulatory approval first, a decision many of their backers consider fundamental to who they are,” she says. “It was a decision full of pain—and risk.” Sun's…

For decades, tacking “Silicon” onto a locally distinctive feature has been the go-to move for cities seeking to brand themselves as the next great place for entrepreneurs. Replacing Santa Clara's “Valley” with “Peach” in Atlanta, “Desert” in Phoenix, and “Slopes” in Salt Lake sent a clear signal of these cities’ larger startup ambitions. But, it turns out, there are real advantages to starting a company outside the pressure cooker of even the Valley-inspired business hubs: more support, lower costs, and less competition. While epicenters such as Silicon Valley and New York City still lead the country in overall startup activity, and cities including Atlanta, Austin, and Miami have become serious startup hubs, a new batch of entrepreneurial hot spots appears to be emerging in such places as Huntsville, Alabama, Oklahoma…

PACIFIC Sacramento had a 2.9 percent year-over-year increase in startup growth, well above San Francisco's (1.2 percent) and just a tick behind San Jose's (3.1 percent), according to GoDaddy. It's attracting residents from pricier entrepreneurial hubs. The city experienced 147 percent annual growth in new business checking applications, according to Bluevine. SOUTHWEST Austin has earned its entrepreneurial vibe, but in terms of startup growth rates, Dallas-Fort Worth had bigger gains in the past year. The number of startups grew 5.1 percent, according to GoDaddy, just a bit under Houston (5.3 percent). Dallas has a higher than average Microbusiness Activity Index score, especially when it comes to infrastructure. It also was a national leader in new business bank account applications, according to Bluevine. For each region: Rising metro Median 2-year growth…

Before Monica Nassif built her cleaning products company Mrs. Meyer's into a household name, she built up an eclectic résumé. She trained as a nurse, worked in retail, lost $75,000 launching a watch company, and eventually started her own marketing and design firm, Kilter. Finally, Nassif decided to channel her marketing prowess into her own brand. So she founded Caldrea, a high-end cleaning company that uses plant-derived formulas, in 1999. Two years into scaling, a conversation with her mother, Thelma, sparked the idea to develop a second cleaning brand with more mass-market appeal. Enter Mrs. Meyer's. Just five years after launch, Nassif saw her dream realized in a Whole Foods endcap filled entirely with her new brand's soaps, sprays, and detergents. “You kind of drop to your knees,” recalls Nassif,…

“My team and I spend a lot of time discussing what ‘white-glove’ actually means. A lot of it boils down to clear communication—setting expectations up front with clients, and then going above and beyond.” Design With Skill's Samantha Hill “As founders, we're indoctrinated with the idea that if there's an issue, we solve it. That's what white-glove service looks like. We identify a problem, we tweak it, we reflect on our leadership, and we make it better.” Catalyst Integrators’ Jamie Munoz Going above and beyond for your clients is a big part of being a successful entrepreneur, but it can also create unrealistic expectations. If you're always overdelivering, it's just a matter of time before you start being taken advantage of, whether your customers realize it or not. So how do you…