In attendance on the panel were Lisa Besserman, founder of Startup Buenos Aires; Matt Haggman from the Knight Foundation; Melissa Withers, chief of staff at Betaspring; and John Curtis, acting mayor of Provo, Utah. Each panelist was able to offer unique insight into startup communities based on their own niche experiences. Evans concluded that, when you have a solid foundation for a strong community, you can then determine what the actual, quantifiable impact on innovation a community can have. And once the community starts to have an impact, it becomes a matter of sustaining that forward momentum. As Evans aptly noted, though, sustaining momentum is easier said than done. However, those tough moments aren’t without their own reward. That is, over-saturating a startup community could in fact lead to a decline in actual companies that produce and uplift the community at large. There’s also the fact that when you’re dealing with a startup community versus your own startup company, the stakes are much higher. Instead of commanding your own fate, you essentially hold the fate of every community member in your hands; it’s bigger than one person and has a calculable impact on everybody’s lives. So, after all of this, what’s the answer we ultimately arrive at? How are we making our communities a better place for startups? According to Withers, time is the enemy for startups, and it’s always heartbreaking to see amazing people miss the boat and run out of time. Startup life is a grind, and it will absolutely test you in ways you can’t ever prepare for. But at the end of the day, if you have a supportive startup community around you, you can succeed, maintain that success, and then pay it forward to the next generation of startup founders. On October 6-7, Tech Cocktail Celebrate Conference is gathering hundreds of attendees, industry leaders, and inspiring speakers in downtown Vegas to meet the hottest startups and investors from around the country, learn and collaborate with others turning their communities into startup cities, and enjoy music, parties, and llama spotting. Check out more Tech Cocktail Celebrate Conference coverage here.
