Raising a Startup is like Raising a Child

I’m two years into my role as CEO & Executive Director of Bridge Entrepreneurs Network (BEN) Colorado, a huge honor after years of volunteering as a BEN advisor.

I’m reflecting on the power of “bridging” growth stage entrepreneurs to the help they need when they need it and the value we really provide. 

The simple view is that BEN connects entrepreneurs with the advisors and resources they need to succeed through networking, mentoring, technical assistance, and capital readiness and access.

But the longer I’ve done this work, the more I’ve realized that’s only part of the story.

Our real work is much deeper.

We’re helping build Colorado’s entrepreneurial village.

Not a single organization. Not another program. Not a networking group.

A village.

A place where founders discover mentors before they need them. Where investors, universities, nonprofits, corporations, service providers, educators, and community leaders work together rather than in isolation. Where relationships become the infrastructure that helps innovative ideas survive long enough to become thriving companies.

That realization led me down an unexpected path of curiosity.

I found myself asking a question that I couldn’t shake:

How are entrepreneurial ecosystems actually built?

Not the economic development answer.

Not the policy answer.

Not the “here are the organizations in our community” answer.

I wanted to understand what an ecosystem really is.

Like many bouts of curiosity, one question became ten. I started reading about where the word ecosystem came from. Then I found myself reading about the phrase it takes a village to raise a child. Somewhere along the way, I stumbled across fascinating research showing that founders often experience many of the same neurological and emotional responses toward their companies that parents experience toward their children.

That’s when three completely different ideas suddenly snapped together.

Maybe we’ve been thinking about entrepreneurship all wrong.

The word ecosystem literally points us toward an organized home.

The proverb reminds us that it takes a village to raise a child.

And every entrepreneur I’ve ever known has reminded me that no founder succeeds alone.

Perhaps those aren’t three separate ideas after all.

Perhaps they’re describing the same truth from different angles.

At BEN Colorado, we aspire to be more than a connector of resources. We aspire to help cultivate Colorado’s entrepreneurial village—a long-term ecosystem where founders are supported not only when they’re raising capital or hiring employees, but throughout the entire journey of building something meaningful.

The village isn’t any one organization.

It’s all of us.

Founders.

Mentors.

Investors.

Universities.

Economic developers.

Corporations.

Nonprofits.

Public leaders.

Communities.

Each has a role to play in helping entrepreneurs—and the companies they nurture—grow into something that benefits all of us.

I look forward to continued ecosystem engagement on leadership, resilience, trust, collaboration, capital, mentorship, and the human side of entrepreneurship—not simply because they help companies succeed, but because they help people flourish.

After all, the strongest entrepreneurial ecosystems aren’t built one startup at a time.

They’re built one relationship at a time.

One act of generosity at a time.

One bridge at a time.

And just like every child deserves a village, every entrepreneur deserves a community that believes in them long before the rest of the world does.

If you’re a parent (entrepreneur) trying to raise your (startup) child, please reach out to see if BEN Colorado can help or where we can point you for the help you need.

#Noentrepreneurleftbehind