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

Newton’s 3rd law tells us that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In physics, that makes perfect sense. Push on something, and it pushes back. But when you bring that idea into a startup community, things get even more interesting.

Why? Because startup communities are not traditional organizations. There is no org chart. No boss. No direct-report structure. No easy “because I said so.” A startup community is made up of founders, investors, mentors, universities, government folks, service providers, and supporters from different organizations, all with their own incentives, pressures, and agendas. That means every leadership action creates a reaction, but not always where you expect it.

You make a decision to spotlight one founder, and five others quietly wonder why they were overlooked. You launch a new initiative with one partner, and another organization feels pushed to the side. You put your weight behind one program, and suddenly that force gets transferred into another part of the community, creating friction you didn’t intend.

That is the leadership challenge in a startup community. Your actions do not move through a simple chain of command. They bounce. They ripple. They create new forces on other people, often in completely different directions.

This is why community leadership is much more about influence than control. In fact, trying to control a startup community usually backfires. Healthy communities are complex systems, not machines. They respond best to clear values, trust, inclusion, and steady signals over time, not blunt-force moves or top-down mandates.

So how should a leader act, knowing every move creates reactions?

First, lead with intention, not impulse. Before launching something, sending that email, making that introduction, or publicly backing an idea, ask yourself: who else will feel this? Not just the obvious people, but the second ring out. In startup communities, second-order effects matter. A quick action can create a long tail.

Second, communicate the why early and often. People can handle decisions they do not fully like a lot better when they understand the reasoning. In communities without formal authority, transparency becomes a trust-building tool. If people know your motivation is founder-first and community-wide, reactions tend to be less defensive and more constructive. Founder needs coming first is one of the clearest markers of a healthy community.

Third, create more small forces than big ones. Big gestures get attention, but small, consistent actions build momentum. Make introductions. Share credit. Tell founder stories. Open doors. Encourage others to lead. In complex communities, lots of small positive forces sustained over time usually outperform one giant push. That is how trust compounds. That is how culture gets built.

Leadership in a startup community is not about commanding movement. It is about respecting motion. 

Every action matters. So choose actions that create the kind of reactions you want multiplied across the system.

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