The Bottom-Up Revolution How To Make Starting a Small Business Easy and Cheap
Oct 16, 2025
Zoe Tishaev and Dylan DelliSanti, advocates from the Institute for Justice, delve into how cities can simplify the process of starting small businesses. They share their personal journeys from local advocacy to urbanist policy work. The duo reveals frustrations with the startup permitting landscape and discusses innovative reforms to make it cheaper and faster. They emphasize the value of micro-retail in revitalizing downtowns and advocate for a 'do no harm' approach in policymaking for more vibrant local economies.
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Streamline The Entrepreneur's Journey
- Cities Work helps cities make it cheaper, faster, and simpler to start a small business by mapping the entrepreneur's permitting journey.
- The team offers this service nationwide and provides it to cities free of charge.
From Bartender To City Policy Advocate
- Dylan moved from academia into bartending and small-business management, which sparked his interest in urban economies.
- That hands-on experience and reading Jane Jacobs led him to join the Institute for Justice's Cities Work initiative.
Transit Challenges Shaped An Advocate
- Zoe grew up in auto-centric Montgomery County and relied on buses, which pushed her into urbanist advocacy.
- That background motivated her to work on pedestrian, cycling, housing, and now commercial development issues.