[Editor’s note: This guest post was co-written by Oren Etzioni and Jacob Colker of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2) in Seattle.] We’ve reached a tipping point for our startup ecosystem. The Seattle area is home to several of the world’s most iconic companies including Amazon, Boeing, Microsoft, and Starbucks. We have also had nine $1 billion-plus startup companies created over the last 10 years. But what’s next? This analysis examines leading indicators that point to an unprecedented acceleration in high-tech startup creation over the next few years.