Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City

ENTREPRENEURS

The leaders of a startup community must be the entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs must have a long-term commitment to their startup community. They must be inclusive of anyone who wants to engage with the startup community. They must be actively involved—they have to show up, do, and lead by example. Finally, they have to put the long-term health of the startup community ahead of their self-interests.

At the beginning of its arc, a startup community needs only a few leaders. In Boulder, I can point to half a dozen people that ignited the entrepreneurial revolution the city has been enjoying. Over time, the number of leaders grows, roles change, and some leaders take a backseat to other leaders. This is critical; without evolution, the startup community will stagnate.

Entrepreneurs are extremely busy running their companies. Many entrepreneurs have families and struggle mightily with balancing their work and the rest of their life. “Leading their startup community” can sound like one more burden on top of an already overwhelming set of responsibilities. However, some entrepreneurs figure out how to do it. How?

Any entrepreneur who has been a leader of a startup community knows the incredible amount of energy to be gained from other entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurial leaders follow a “give before you get” philosophy: They have no idea what they are going to get out of providing this leadership, but they expect it will be more than they invest. In some cases, the results ...