By Chris Heivly, Managing Director at Build The Fort and Startup Community EIR @ Techstars

Let’s talk about something most people don’t like to admit — this work we do in startup communities? It’s messy. It’s frustrating. And sometimes, if we’re being honest, it feels absurd. Like crazy absurd. Who would sign up for this as a calling?

But that absurdity? That’s exactly where the magic happens — if you’re willing to lean into it.

Albert Camus, the French philosopher best known for wrestling with the absurd, once said: “We must imagine Sisyphus happy.” What he meant was that even when life (or startup community building) feels like pushing a boulder uphill every single day, we can still find meaning — maybe even joy — in that struggle. Harmony in the absurd, I guess.

I remember a specific moment that captured this idea perfectly. I was in Buffalo, New York, working under a multi-year Techstars contract to help grow their entrepreneurial ecosystem. I had asked my friend Brad Feld to address a room full of ecosystem leaders. As usual, Brad didn’t sugarcoat it. He looked out at the mostly older male group and said:

“Gentlemen, you need to get comfortable with the uncomfortable.”

That simple but impactful line stuck with me and still does today.

Because in this line of work — building startup communities — nothing ever fits together perfectly. There’s no instruction manual. No tidy set of Legos where every piece perfectly clicks into place.

It’s more like a box of random parts from five different IKEA furniture sets, and you’ve got to build a rocket ship.

Founders have messy needs. Investors want returns. Universities want IP protection. City leaders want jobs and metrics. Every actor in the ecosystem is marching to a different beat, and somehow we’re expected to conduct a symphony.

The real lesson is this: stop waiting for comfort. If you’re constantly searching for a comfortable system, you’ll never make progress. Community building isn’t architecture — it’s jazz. It’s improvisation. It’s figuring it out together even when the notes don’t match. It’s uncomfortable. 

So yes, things will break. People will disappoint. Plans will unravel.

And your job — our job — is to stay grounded in the absurdity of it all.

To show up. To lean into the discomfort. To keep building. To laugh when you want to cry. And to find harmony not despite the chaos, but because of it.

That’s how we build something real.

That’s how we build the fort.

Learn more about Techstars Startup Community partnerships, a new way for you to build your thriving startup community as a member of the Techstars network.

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