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...
by Chris Heivly | Aug 13, 2026 | Community
A few years ago, I sat through my third “mentorship kickoff” in as many years, in three different cities that all swore this time that this vital programming would stick. Same energy in the room. Same nodding. Same six months later, when I’d ask...
by Chris Heivly | Aug 6, 2026 | Community
I recently listened to Simon Sinek talk about leadership, and one idea immediately connected with me. He argued that leaders have the courage to go first. They risk first. And perhaps most importantly, they trust first. This perfectly describes what effective...
by Chris Heivly | Jul 30, 2026 | Community
I recently returned from Istanbul, where I spent time with startup founders, investors, government leaders, and community builders discussing what it takes to accelerate a startup community. It was very clear to me that they are very passionate about driving Istanbul...
by Chris Heivly | Jul 23, 2026 | Community
Startup communities fail all the time. In fact, right now, I would guess that over half of the communities that have deployed serious dollars and effort are failing. Not in some dramatic, buildings-on-fire, investors-fleeing-town kind of way. Community failure is...
