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

Let’s call it like it is: every startup community hits a wall. The inevitable plateau. Things that used to work — monthly coffee meetups, demo days, pitch nights — now feel more like obligations than opportunities. The same twenty people show up, say the same things, and go home. There’s nothing special, no new faces, and no energy. If this feels familiar, it’s time to stop rearranging the chairs and admit something harder: your community needs a major forcing function.

A forcing function is something that creates urgency and forces action or change.

It is that necessary disruption — a jolt to the system that shakes up your norms, your events, and yes, even your leadership. It’s the uncomfortable, but necessary moment where you decide that “business as usual” isn’t good enough anymore.

I compare this to Newton’s First Law: a community at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by a force. If you are active in your startup ecosystem and you feel these signals, then it is way past time to act.

Here Are a Few Signs You Need a Forcing Function:

• The same people are leading everything — and no one’s challenging them.

• Your events feel like networking theater, not meaningful connection.

• New founders are not showing up, or don’t feel welcome or don’t even know the ecosystem exists.

• Your leadership talks about “innovation” but does not really support actual risk.

Sound familiar? Then it’s definitely time for a change.

What might a forcing function look like? By definition, it has to be big - not incremental. It has to be something that gets everyone's attention. The perception has to be “we are done with that chapter, we now need to start a new chapter."

Let me be clear, this isn’t about placing blame on the previous or existing leadership — it’s about nurturing or creating a sense of urgency among future leadership.

Startup communities don’t die because of bad intentions. They fade because no one was brave enough to shake things up. If you’ve been waiting for the perfect moment or permission to do something different — this is it. Your community needs you to lead with boldness.

The point is: a true forcing function realigns the community. It asks, “Are we serving new founders to the best of our ability?” and then demands action.

If your community feels stuck, it might be time to bring in new leadership energy—and give them real ownership, not just a seat at the kids’ table.

So here’s your challenge:

• Propose something that scares you a little.

• Bring in someone younger, scrappier, or hungrier to co-lead.

• Cut the tired events and build something founders actually want.

• Refocus the entire community around helping entrepreneurs win.

Because the truth is: your startup ecosystem probably needs a wake-up call.

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