Venture Cafe St. Louis quietly halted operations this week. It became apparent that the non-profit abandoned it's role as a meeting place for the St. Louis tech ecosystem when both of its websites returned a logo and a contact email address instead of displaying the Thursday meet-up activity that the Venture Cafe has as it's primary function. (Note: sign up for a Freemium subscription to read the whole story).
Paul Riat is just this guy, trying to figure things out. A fan of Max Weber, he generally gets a kick out of the triangle between economy, society and liberty. His focus on technology startups and venture capital fits because early stage tech startups are the most dynamic and impactful elements of local economies -- improving liberty and society like a rising tide.
