by Chris Heivly | Oct 1, 2026 | Community
I once sat in a state capitol conference room while an economic development director explained his plan to “create the next Silicon Valley” in eighteen months. He had a budget. He had a new venture fund for residents of his state. He had a matching-funds...
by Chris Heivly | Sep 24, 2026 | Community, Founder Tips
A few years ago I was talking to a founder who’d just closed her seed round (her first round). She should have been floating. Instead, she pulled up a LinkedIn post about someone locally announcing their Series A and got quiet for a second. “They’re...
by Chris Heivly | Sep 17, 2026 | Community
In my veins, I bleed geographer. Not sure that will ever go away. So, when I meet a new ecosystem enthusiast, usually on a video call, I pull up Wikipedia to quickly get some data, like the population of the city & region, population growth over time, and maybe...
by Chris Heivly | Sep 10, 2026 | Community, Founder Tips
We spend a lot of time talking about communication in startup communities. The newsletter. The Slack updates. The meetup events. The carefully worded email announcing the new accelerator. Awareness is so important that we broadcast in as many vehicles as we can...
by Chris Heivly | Sep 3, 2026 | Community, Founder Tips
I’ve met a lot of community leaders who can see the future clearly. The passion they have for this vision is intoxicating. They know exactly what the community should look like in five years. They can describe it in detail, down to the coffee shop where the next...
by Chris Heivly | Aug 27, 2026 | Community, Founder Tips
A few weeks ago, I spoke at Techstars’ 20th birthday celebration. They asked me one question: why should a founder lean on their startup community? So founders reading this — listen up, this just might change your success arc. I’ve been asked versions of...
by Chris Heivly | Aug 20, 2026 | Community, Founder Tips
At MapQuest, I had no community. To be fair, it was Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the 90’s. Who knew what a startup community was? I had colleagues. I had a company. I had leaders who smiled in support at executive meetings but had their own agenda in the hallway. I...
