by Chris Heivly | Mar 30, 2023 | Community
Are you concerned that copycat companies imply an immature ecosystem? Is your international-based startup community and your respective founders focused on replicating other successful ideas? The Fandango of Lima, Peru. The Yelp of Almaty, Kazakhstan. The Lime bikes...
by Chris Heivly | Mar 22, 2023 | Community
Are you a government leader asking yourself this question? Every government entity today is wondering how they can best help accelerate the startup activities in their local area. In fact, I get asked that question just about every day here at the fort. Building or...
by Chris Heivly | Feb 10, 2021 | Community
There are short-term startup community goals and there are — and should be — long-term startup community goals and both of them require a resilient mindset. Many of us put our heads down under the “get stuff done now” mantra, and of course that has real value. But, as...
by Chris Heivly | Jan 25, 2021 | Community
Entrepreneurial ecosystems are made up of people, and the success of every entrepreneurial ecosystem depends on the level of people’s connectivity to each other. That is the fundamental principle at the core of our Ecosystem Development practice at Techstars. But why...
by Chris Heivly | Nov 11, 2020 | Founder Tips
Forgive me. I have listened to so many bad pitches over my years that I may have become a bit jaded. Well, maybe jaded may be too strong, what I really want to do is poke a little fun with the intent of using humor to make a very important point. Every one of us...
by Chris Heivly | Nov 19, 2019 | Founder Tips, INC
Recruiting top talent is typically one of the #1 challenge for early-stage companies and herein is why bad leaders lose great people. Why? Credibility. As an early-stage company, you don’t have a compelling story that is strong enough to convince the best candidates. ...
by Chris Heivly | Oct 17, 2019 | Community, INC
I was lucky enough to be asked to judge an annual pitch competition in Buffalo that an organization called 43North operate every year. The 43 North program is pretty simple; startups from around the world compete for the opportunity to win close to $5M divided into...
