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

In his piece How to Build the Perfect City, Chris Arnade delivers a quiet truth with thunderous impact: “To really understand a city, you must walk it.” Not drive it. Not fly over it with a drone. Not read about it. You have to walk it. You have to feel its cracks, hear its rhythms, notice the people nobody else notices.

This idea has a profound and often overlooked parallel in the world of startup community building: to really understand your startup community, you must talk to the founders. Not just once. Not just at pitch night or Demo Day. But weekly. Consistently. With curiosity and humility.

Walking a city reveals its soul — the alleyways, the small corner stores, the neighborhoods not in the brochure. Similarly, talking with founders (versus the stakeholders) gets you past the community websites and press releases. It opens you up so you can see the real challenges of company building, the emotional rollercoaster of being an active founder, and those sparks of brilliance that haven't revealed themselves yet.

Too often, community builders try to build ecosystems from the top down by running the age-old obvious tactics: a shiny new co-working space, a million-dollar ESO grant, an annual entrepreneur conference. But the secret lies in the sidewalks — in the slow, deliberate walks through your founder community. As the Techstars playbook mantra says, “Meet with 1 founder a week. Ask them what they need. Open your network for them.”

Chris Arnade doesn’t talk to mayors to learn a city. He talks to the overlooked — the folks who don’t usually get asked for input. In startup terms, that means you’re just as likely to get deep insights from a scrappy solo founder with a few paying customers as from the well-funded serial entrepreneur. Arnade’s respect for unvarnished truth is something community builders should steal with pride.

But here is the kicker, you can't do this just once and check that box. You need to do this weekly and consistently with the same founders. Their needs change. Their challenges evolve. And so does your ecosystem.

To be a great ecosystem builder, you must match the rhythm of the ecosystem and the founders who play those drums daily. 

Just like walking a neighborhood every day gives you a sense of its pulse, talking to founders weekly gives you the rhythm of the community. You hear the subtle shifts. You notice who’s on the edge of burnout. You learn who just landed a big customer but hasn’t told anyone yet. These are the stories that reflect ecosystems. These are the stories that need to be shared.

So, community leaders, here’s your challenge: Lace up your metaphorical shoes. Pick up the phone or schedule that coffee. Walk your city. Talk to your founders.

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