Get real, get local, and get to work

Oct 8

I have a favor to ask. If you care about how startup communities grow—not just in Silicon Valley, but in real cities with real complexity—then you need to be in Augusta, Georgia, in exactly one month, November 4 - 7.

Twice a year, the Startup Champions Network brings together the people I care the most about (besides my family) who actually do the work of building entrepreneurial ecosystems. The ones who coach founders, wrangle investors, fight for inclusion, and still manage to show up with hope and humor.

This isn’t just a boring conference in a hotel meeting room. It’s a 2.5-day field trip into the future of startup community building, hosted by me and Eric Parker and my peers who believe the best ideas happen over coffee, laughter, and maybe a late-night conversation about cultivating the startup and investment community from the coast to the heartland and everywhere in between.

And Augusta? It’s the perfect setting, so please join me. Plus, this is the BEST time of year to visit. Crisp weather, cozy evenings, autumn leaves and changing fall colors everywhere.

A city of contradictions and opportunity—home to the Masters Tournament, Medical College of Georgia, Savannah River Site, Fort Gordon, and neighborhoods ready to be reimagined through entrepreneurship and equity.

Our theme, Open Invitations, asks:

How do we invite a city and region to believe in itself again?
How do we rebuild trust where opportunity has been unevenly distributed?
How do we share power, capital, and credit as we grow?

So here’s my open invitation:

If you’re an ecosystem builder, founder, funder, policy maker, job creator, generational wealth builder or angel investor who believes community is the real multiplier—come to Augusta, Georgia.

Bring your insights, your voice, your big-hearted ambition and join me for this incredible week.

Let’s get real, get local, and get to work.