Tag

Community Leader

74 posts

Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable (Thanks, Brad)

In this line of work — building startup communities — nothing ever fits together perfectly. There’s no instruction manual.

June 2, 2025

Heivly: That One Time the Ecosystem Tried to Vote on My Accelerator

Insights & Trends

That One Time the Ecosystem Tried to Vote on My Accelerator (Spoiler: I Wasn’t Invited)

Want to supercharge your startup community? Get more entrepreneurs in the room where decisions are made.

May 26, 2025

Artificial Constraints Chris Heivly blog post

Insights & Trends

Artificial Constraints: The Lies We’re Told and Why We Should Ignore Them

One of the sneakiest barriers to building a company — or a community — is the presence of artificial constraints.

May 20, 2025

Insights & Trends

I Stepped Back. They Stepped Up. And It Was Better.

This post is about why I do what I do, and it relates to Raleigh Durham Startup Week - an annual event for founders and their startups.

May 13, 2025

Insights & Trends

Quit Blaming ‘Them’ — You’re ‘Them’ Too

Complex systems — like the communities we’re building — don’t change because one change is manifested. They change when we all recognize our influence and responsibility.

May 5, 2025

Insights & Trends

Everything Matters: The Butterfly Effect of Startup Communities

If I’ve learned anything in building startup communities, it’s this: The smallest actions are just as important as the largest.

April 28, 2025

Think Like a Valedictorian - Chris Heivly blog post

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How to Fail at Ecosystem Building: Think Like a Valedictorian

Ecosystem building is messy. It’s nonlinear. It’s about relationships, not roadmaps.

April 21, 2025

Chris Heivly - Stronger Community - Blog Header

Insights & Trends

Want a Stronger Startup Community? Infect It (In the Best Way)

A mission to ignite a positive social contagion will mean intentionally spreading behaviors, attitudes, or emotions that uplift and energize others to start new companies.

April 14, 2025

Chris Heivly - Rebel Founders - blog post header

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Memo to Ecosystem Builders: Rebels Make the Best Founders

We can’t build a community of disruptors while asking everyone to conform to one system.

April 7, 2025

Chris Heivly - Everyone's In Charge Blog Post

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Startup Communities: Where Everyone’s in Charge and Nothing Seems To Get Done

Chris Heivly, Entrepreneur in Residence for Startup Communities at Techstars, shares how holding onto authority too tightly stifles the growth of a startup community.

March 24, 2025

Insights & Trends

A Founder, an Investor, and an Ecosystem Leader Walk Into a Bar… And Actually Listen to Each Other

Chris Heivly, Entrepreneur in Residence for Startup Communities at Techstars, shares how when founders, investors, and community leaders approach each other with empathy, the startup ecosystem becomes more than just a network.

March 10, 2025

Chris Heivly - Force Multiplier blog header

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Stop Being the Hero — Start Being A Force Multiplier

Chris Heivly, Entrepreneur in Residence for Startup Communities at Techstars, shares how to become a force multiplier in your local startup community.

February 24, 2025