Learn Before You Launch
There’s an irony in how many entrepreneur support organizations build programs: While we preach the importance of customer discovery to founders, we often fail to practice this approach in our own work.
We design programs by convincing ourselves that what worked last time will work again, or that what worked in a different community will work here. The result? Programs that sound great on paper but don’t earn sign-ups or sponsors. By skipping discovery, we make the same mistake as a first-time founder: building a product no one needs.
The most effective programs follow the same principles that founders use to build successful startups: customer discovery, rapid iteration, validated learning, etc. Keeping a laser focus on founders as valued customers helps ensure that ESOs build exactly what they need. Interrogate assumptions, test demand, look for “pull” from founders. This leads to programs and events that solve real problems for founders, fill a gap in the startup ecosystem, and create meaningful impact.
Before you build anything new — a workshop, an accelerator, or a meetup — it’s vital that you spend time with the founders you hope to support. What problems are they actually facing right now? How has that changed since the last time you ran a program or event? What are they trying to achieve that’s hard to do alone? How can you help them get there faster?
Founders can tell when an ecosystem is being built with them, not for them. The difference shows up in participation, word of mouth, and trust. Effective ESOs act more like startups than institutions: always learning, adjusting, and improving. Their programs stay relevant because they’re designed through the same process that drives entrepreneurship itself.
When ecosystem leaders work this way, the results speak for themselves. Founders show up not because they were asked to, but because they want to. Sponsors don’t need to be convinced — they see the energy and want to be part of it. Your program outcomes become stories on impact.
