Startup Champions Network

06/03/2026

We have two new Policy Committee Co-Chairs who need you help!

We're inviting ecosystem builders to take a few minutes to complete a short survey on policy and advocacy work across the startup support landscape. Your perspective matters — whether you're deeply engaged in policy conversations or just starting to explore what advocacy looks like for your organization.

Our goal is to advance policies that support entrepreneurs and the organizations that serve them while creating more space for collaboration, shared learning, and collective action around the issues that matter most to our communities.

Your feedback will directly shape the direction, priorities, and structure of this work. As a thank-you, everyone who completes the survey will be entered into a raffle for a $50 gift card.

Take the survey ➡️ https://heyor.ca/pXJE3E

06/02/2026

SCN Board Member Kim Freeze was an entrepreneur by the age of 19. And she almost went bankrupt. Her lesson was realizing that she had eerything she needed inside of her, she just needed to face the fear head on.

When everything starts to fall apart, what do you fall back on?In...

05/29/2026

We're getting to our 35 Anchor Ticket goal one ecosystem builder at a time. THANK YOU to these early adopters who said yes to !

Learn more about the ecosystem and why you should join us ➡️ https://www.startupchampions.co/richmond-summit

05/28/2026

Ecosystem builders rarely make the headlines. It Takes a Valley changes that. Anika Horn's new book centers the stories of the connectors and conveners building thriving communities across the US, and we are elated to see so many of our members in it! Learn more and back her work ➡️ https://heyor.ca/nthBtl

05/27/2026

Cohado® was designed to show what can happen when communities stop competing and start truly collaborating. Rooted in the Zulu philosophy of Ubuntu — the principle that we are responsible for each other's well-being — Cohado is a cooperative puzzle that strips away titles, roles, and real-world stakes, and asks people to simply show up as themselves. Players work together to solve a challenging problem, and in doing so, they learn about each other's strengths, relational styles, and ways of thinking at a depth that most encounters never reach.

This Friday at 9am is the last day to back Cohado’s next stage of innovation.

Help Paulo Gregory bring his collaborative, systems-changing tool to more founders, ecosystem builders, and communities. ➡️ https://heyor.ca/O39HVM

05/26/2026

In case you missed it... We're headed to for our Fall 2026 Summit!

Richmond is fiercely local — more local restaurants than chains, more independent stores than franchises, an arts district that is digging in to reconnect and rejuvenate downtown – all set the story for a masterclass in love of place. This is where Lighthouse Network, a nationally recognized accelerator, was founded by an SCN founding member. Where Capital One chose to put down roots and show up. Where CarMax, Dominion Energy, and Genworth were born and scaled. Richmond earns this the theme: In Community.

🚨 To make it happen, we need 35 ecosystem builders to grab an Anchor Ticket by June 19. If we hit 35, we go. If we don’t, you get a full refund. ➡️ https://heyor.ca/lUc7ic

05/22/2026

THANK YOU to these members and ecosystem builders for snagging tickets early and saying YES to !

Join them and help us make this summit a reality ➡️ https://heyor.ca/lUc7ic

05/20/2026

We have BIG news to share!

But it comes with a catch...

In this climate, we’re experiencing the same struggles as every ecosystem builder is facing right now. Because of this, SCN is evolving. We’re shifting towards something more radical and more durable: a member-led guild of conveners where the practitioners who live this work every day are at the center of our sustainability and decision-making.

When members fund the network directly, we answer to you. We can take risks, explore uncomfortable truths, and create the kind of vulnerable learning spaces that make our Summits transformational.

Fall 2026 is our pilot. We’re designing programming entirely around what you told us you need: deeper peer conversations, interactive experiences, and real-time problem-solving for the challenges keeping you up at night.

Help us get to 25 anchor tickets to make this real ➡️ https://www.startupchampions.co/richmond-summit

05/20/2026

SCN Member Anika Horn has been interviewing ecosystem builders for years (7 years to be exact). Many of those interviews are SCN members and many of them are in her new book! 🎉

"It Takes a Valley" centers the stories of the connectors and conveners building thriving communities across the US, and we are honored to help support its launch (SCN is in there, too ☺️). Her Kickstarter officially launches today! Join us in backing it ➡️ https://heyor.ca/nthBtl

05/19/2026

Most people build things. As ecosystem builders, we build the conditions that make everything else possible.

That's a different kind of work that calls for a different kind of community. SCN is the professional home for ecosystem builders who believe that collaboration is a strategy, not a soft skill. Who know that the most important conversations happen far from the stage. Who show up for the communities behind the outcomes, not just the outcomes themselves.

If rings true for you, then join us! ➡️ https://heyor.ca/pNonAw

Whether you're new to ecosystem building or have been at this for decades, SCN gives you a place to sharpen your thinking, strengthen your practice, and find your people. The complexity of systems change is too real—and too important—to navigate alone.