Startup Wizard

Digital expert to startups: ‘If you make Dallas look good, you look good’

Editor’s note: In advance of our CultureMap Social: The Innovation Edition, we chatted with our event partners about the Dallas startup scene. Next up: Michael Pratt of Digital Dallas.

Michael Pratt, president and founder of Digital Dallas, knows what it’s like to start a company from the ground up; he’s done it in Dallas with the founding of Extra Sauce in 2011 and Panamplify in 2013, and several times in the Northeast before moving here.

Digital Dallas holds showcase, social, and educational events each month across Dallas-Fort Worth that are designed to nurture the area's startup and tech communities.

We synced up with Pratt to learn about Digital Dallas and hear his take on what Dallas has to offer.

CultureMap: What makes the startup community in Dallas special?

Michael Pratt: We have as much talent here as any large city, but our startups tend to be leaner and work toward customers and profitability better and faster than anywhere else.

CM: What is something that people don’t know about doing business here?

MP: DFW has the largest concentration of Fortune 500 corporate headquarters after New York, which means there is a ton of talent and business to support that ecosystem. That indirectly fuels the startup world here by providing backyard access to initial customers in many cases.

CM: Why do you think Dallas is as important an entrepreneurial hub as cities like San Francisco or Austin?

MP: While the Valley and Austin may have DFW beat on capital spent on startups, we compete on the number of businesses actually being started — especially “bootstrapped” businesses.

CM: Sum up Dallas in three words.

MP: Connections, business, growth.

CM: How does your organization fit into what’s happening on the startup scene?

MP: Digital Dallas has two missions: to be a catalyst for community building for all professionals in the digital economy of DFW, and to promote all the amazing things being done here.

CM: What does innovation look like to you?

MP: Innovation in DFW looks like an environment where new startups are being formed by motivated professionals looking to disrupt the status quo without serious access to capital, by doing it the old-fashioned way: bootstrapping.

CM: What is Digital Dallas doing that’s different than anyone else in Dallas?

MP: We are getting companies big and small that are making a difference to tell their stories, on their turf, in their own way. We encourage “showcasing” instead of “pitching” — there are great organizations doing that way better than we are. Our mantra is, “If you make Dallas look good, you look good.”

CM: Why is a sense of community so important for the digital world?

MP: The best job board in the world is community. The best advertising in the world is community. The best fundraising in the world starts with community.

CM: Why are volunteering events an important aspect of Digital Dallas?

MP: We are entirely fueled by volunteers. Without them, we don’t exist.

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Buy tickets to the CultureMap Social: The Innovation Edition, which takes place September 30, 6 pm, at 129 Leslie.

Michael Pratt, president and founder of Digital Dallas.

Photo courtesy of Michael Pratt

Michael Pratt, president and founder of Digital Dallas.

interview qa

Building boom

Dallas comes in at No. 1 in the U.S. for retail construction in 2025

Photo by Josh Olalde on Unsplash

Nearly 7.15 million square feet of space are under construction in DFW.

Get ready for a gigantic cartload of new shopping opportunities in Dallas-Fort Worth. A new report, published by commercial real estate services provider Lee & Associates, says DFW leads more than 60 U.S. retail markets with nearly 7.15 million square feet of space under construction.

To put that in perspective: If the average Walmart supercenter measures 182,000 square feet, the nearly 7.15 million-square-foot total would work out to 39 new supercenters being built in the region.

The amount of retail space going up in DFW represents 15 percent of all retail space under construction in the more than 60 U.S. markets tracked by Lee & Associates.

According to the report, the Dallas-Fort Worth industrial market remains on a path of growth, with vacancy rates continuing to trend below 10 percent, reflecting sustained demand for space.

This quarter, nearly 7 million square feet of new industrial space was delivered, more than doubling the volume from the first quarter — highlighting a steady upward trend.

“After some crushingly slow post-pandemic years, retail construction throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth region this year is on pace to hit its highest point since 2017,” Bisnow reported.

What’s behind the surge in retail construction? Population growth. Data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau shows DFW was the country’s third-fastest-growing metro from 2023 to 2024, based on the number of new residents.

DFW is by far the most active U.S. market for new retail space. (Just look at how many grocery stores are being built in the area.)

Houston and Austin aren’t too far behind Dallas-Fort Worth, though.

The second-ranked Houston area has nearly 3.9 million square feet of retail space under construction, according to the report, and the third-ranked Austin area has more than 3.4 million square feet of retail space being built.

Houston was the second-fastest-growing metro from 2023 to 2024, according to the Census Bureau, and Austin landed at No. 13.