The future of ecosystem building with Chris Heivly

You can’t talk about startup communities and ecosystems without mentioning Chris Heivly. Having engaged with over 5,000+ founders across 70+ cities and 20 countries, Chris lives the mantra “put entrepreneurs front and center”. Known for his extensive work as an ecosystem builder, investor, mentor, and author, he brings a unique perspective on how to foster thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems.  

Personally, Chris and I have crossed paths many times over the last decade. Wearing his Techstars hat, he ran an ecosystem assessment of my then-home ecosystem, Richmond, VA, in 2017. I consider his book, Build The Fort: The Startup Community Builder’s Field Guide, as one of the top five foundational works in our field. I’ve had him on the show (listen here) and I saw him keynote at the inaugural SuperConnect conference in Baltimore. 

He’s been active in the field for over two decades and, knowing him, will continue to contribute to the field for the next 20 years. No one better to kick off this series with than Chris Heivly.

Ecosystems of the past: Less than the sum of their parts

At best, you’re just the sum of your parts. The real goal is when one plus one plus one equals five.

When Chris first arrived in the Raleigh-Durham area in 2009, he did what he was good at: He met with entrepreneurs. 275 in the first five months, to be precise. And we’re not talking about Zoom or other virtual meetings – this was the early 2000s, after all. They met in person in coffee shops around the city. What he found out early on was that the different assets in the area were siloed and not communicating with each other – much to the detriment of emerging innovators and entrepreneurs.

“Raleigh-Durham had three major universities and a big research institution with a combined research spending of two to four billion dollars – depending on the year – and a very high education attainment level per capita.

The area was still averaging 17 to 25 people a day moving into the area. Cities like Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill were and are fairly progressive. They even had a couple of venture funds. We had all these pieces, but they just weren’t coming together as they should have. Somehow, the whole was less than the sum of the individual parts.”

Chris recognized silos within the community and a consistent pattern among leaders, particularly those from traditional sectors, who approached ecosystem building with a top-down, control-oriented mindset.

“In nascent ecosystems, I often see ‘leaders’ trying to inspire others and do what they think is necessary to create an ecosystem: Too often, these are well-intentioned, accomplished businessmen or government executives who bring the skills, networks and experiences they’ve honed throughout their careers. They tackle ecosystem building like they would plan a big volunteer project or stand up a performing arts center: They set a goal, assess what resources and assets are needed and reverse-engineer a plan to get it done. 

And unfortunately, while it’s the right motivation, it’s the wrong mindset. Entrepreneurial ecosystems are complex, adaptive systems. They can’t be reverse-engineered. They can’t be controlled. They are not a problem to be solved.”

Once the relevant actors in an ecosystem understand that ecosystem building is a bottom-up approach driven by local culture and a mindset of generosity and a genuine willingness to help, they are more likely to break down silos and initiate the necessary conversations about what entrepreneurs need. Putting the needs of entrepreneurs front and center is the starting point for a thriving and flourishing ecosystem.

“By definition, an entrepreneurial ecosystem cannot be engineered; there’s no leader assigning tasks, there’s no master plan to execute, and methods for measuring accountability and outcomes are not easily identified or agreed upon. For many […], this notion goes against every muscle [they’ve] built over [their] career.” Build the Fort, Chris Heivly, 2020, p. 37

The Essential Role of Culture

Having analyzed ecosystems in over 20 countries, Chris has refined his ability to identify patterns that influence the pace and nature of any ecosystem effort.

“Every place has its own personality, and that personality sets the tone for the local culture. The foundation of a good ecosystem is a great culture that supports entrepreneurship and fosters a complex mindset. 

In Boulder, Colorado, for instance, people are passionate about nature and the outdoors. A hiking meetup is a relatively common occurrence as an ecosystem event. But, in Norfolk, Virginia, the culture is defined by the military, a highly structured environment and deep hierarchies. Their meetups and norms will look significantly different from those in Boulder.

You can build and develop an ecosystem in both of these places, but the personality and culture will heavily influence what that process looks like.”

Chris argues that the heart of ecosystem building lies in people—connecting them, building supportive cultures, and fostering collaboration. With people at the heart of ecosystems, we discussed the role technology plays in ecosystem building.

Moving the start line for entrepreneurs

The introduction of AI and other technologies can facilitate these connections, allowing entrepreneurs to begin their journeys further along than previously possible.

As an early adopter of AI, Chris sees great potential for entrepreneurs to get a head start by leveraging the tech tools we currently have access to. “Let’s imagine you’re an entrepreneur and someone recommends Eric Ries’ The Lean Startup or Ash Maurya’s Running Lean. You still need to read these books and figure out how to interpret them to complete your Lean Startup canvas. That’s assuming you have the resources and access to these books and can deduce how to apply them to your startup idea. Now imagine you live in a small town where you don’t know who to ask for help. It’s easy to see how and why entrepreneurial minds might quit before they even have a chance to give it a go. 

“I believe that technology and AI give fledgling entrepreneurs a head start by democratizing access to these types of resources. Whereas Techstars used to be accessible only to selected companies, they now have dozens of 6-minute videos explaining some of the basic concepts behind building a startup—and they’re freely accessible to anyone. There are now free workshops that teach founders to better understand fundraising, venture deals, what the terms are, etc. 

Technology can’t be the primary or only tool, but it can certainly support community connectivity and provide faster, better and more equitable access to the resources that are readily available,” Chris argues. “In the last year alone, I have come across at least three AI applications that will help you build your business model canvas in one minute. By the way, that doesn’t mean you don’t still have to do 50 customer interviews. But at least you know what questions to ask. As an entrepreneur, suddenly your starting line is 50 yards ahead of where it would have been before.”

Empowering the Next Generation of Ecosystem Builders

After a decade of extensive global travel with Techstars and following the COVID-19 pandemic, Chris decided to refocus his efforts on local initiatives once again. He asked himself what the ecosystem in the Raleigh-Durham area needed most. In 2021, Raleigh-Durham Startup Week was born. 

Chris consciously put in place co-led teams because he had learned a sobering lesson in the years prior: “As ecosystem builders, we often are our own problem. For the better part of ten years, whenever the Raleigh-Durham ecosystem needed a champion, I raised my hand and took the lead. While it feels great to roll up your sleeves and get things done, it severely limits the ecosystem’s potential. Because one person can only do so much, and inevitably, life gets in the way. By putting our heads down and getting to work in this way, we do not create opportunities for other leaders to emerge. 

“When we launched Raleigh-Durham Startup Week, I knew I wanted to do things differently. I started asking people whether they wanted to help and within three years, my co-founder and I grew the team to 30 volunteers. We have a six-person marketing team, four people who run operations, while other teams lead sponsorships, venues, and workshop formats. No one person is expected to carry responsibility for any aspect of the event on their shoulders alone.”

Chris is dedicated to growing the next generation of leaders in the ecosystem. He is living proof that passing the baton exemplifies the collaborative spirit needed to sustain a thriving ecosystem: 

The Future of Ecosystem Building 

Chris’s vision for Raleigh-Durham’s startup ecosystem involves unlocking more disruptive, bold ideas, and better commercializing the extensive research conducted at local universities. He is working locally to help break down barriers within the higher education ecosystem. 

If researchers are truly inspired to bring their innovation to the marketplace, they need to get outside the university. I want to help create that connectivity and build bridges between universities and the ecosystem that can help them translate these inventions into scalable startups.

For those of you outside of Raleigh-Durham, he continues to see the wrong leadership mindset and thus the wrong activities implemented in ecosystems that either are not ready for that activity, or the activity misses the true goal. The future of ecosystem building – as he sees it – is for everyone to get better at understanding the drivers of success by connecting with peers across the globe.

Ecosystem is a practice and we are still learning a ton about how to capture best practices.

His latest project is a podcast in collaboration with Techstars: Your Startup Community. After a four-year hiatus, the show returns with short-form episodes (15 minutes-ish) that will cover the basics of startup communities and entrepreneurial ecosystems and the challenges we all feel as ecosystem builders.

His advice for ecosystem builders: 

Focus on building relationships with founders, foster a peer network among ecosystem builders, and remain committed to serving the very people who drive the ecosystem—the entrepreneurs. If you’re not talking to entrepreneurs at least 50% of your time, you’re doing it wrong.

Chris Heivly

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Chris and I teamed up to capture his hardest-won lessons and best advice for entrepreneurial ecosystem builders. Download the guide here: