Well that was fun.
by Grace Belangia
Now that it has been two weeks since co-producing the Startup Champions Network Summit, I thought I was done planning events. But something special happened that made me realize something.
I am not done.
Not after 30 years of planning hundreds of events… after convening, connecting, and building community… after hackathons, startup weekends, TEDx events, bootcamps, launch camps, summits, conferences, webinars, and seminars.
I am definitely not done.
I am also not done finding people who care about community, who care about economic mobility, who care about their families, their businesses, and the places we call home.
I am not done elevating and amplifying the entrepreneurial spirit… the people who build resilience, spark job creation, create generational wealth, and fuel the rocket ship of innovation. In fact, I am just getting started.
Here is the interesting thing. I thought I was done because I thought I was alone.
But standing backstage, watching the audience watch our film ‘The Soul of Economic Freedom’, and having the opportunity to hear their feedback, I realized that the loneliness of feeling like you’re standing on a sinking ship is just a feeling. It isn’t real.
Turns out to be a rocket ship, not a sinking ship, and there are many people who want to board it with me.
Those people showed up last week at the Startup Champions Network Summit in Augusta, Georgia. After 13 years of crossing the country meeting founders, funders, policymakers, philanthropists, government leaders, investors, and bankers, one truth has become clear about this community.
Entrepreneurial Support Organizations (ESOs), ecosystem builders, are the connective tissue guiding this ship for everyone.
As the force that brings it all together, they create the infrastructure that turns ideas into enterprises, communities into economies, and hope into opportunity. It was ecosystem builders who showed up last week, and I am proud to be on this journey together with them. It just took me a while to see it clearly.
As builders, we scout startups in rural towns and urban corridors. We teach entrepreneurship in schools, churches, coworking spaces, museums, garages, basements, and coffee shops. We support veterans, farmers, immigrants, small batch manufacturers, single parents, and students… anyone with an idea and the courage to build.
Believe me, entrepreneurship is not for everyone, but those who step into it are dreaming of a better life. The people who connect the dots, who blend social, financial, and intellectual capital, are the nodes in a mesh network that helps make those dreams real. Those are the ESOs.
So it was an honor to co-organize and produce the SCN Summit for my fellow ESOs. It was a year in the making, powered by a team and volunteers who leaned in with heart, hustle, and hundreds of hours.
Here is the truth. Startups and founders are the backbone of America’s freedom, independence, and economic future. Small and emerging businesses will continue to be the foundation of job creation in this country. What we built together last week was more than a Summit. It was a blueprint for how we invest in people, places, ideas, and dreams.
Now we need partners with the courage to fuel that blueprint.
If you are interested in this endeavor, join me on this rocket ship so I do not feel so alone.
Ecosystem builders are not a cost center.
We are the deal-flow engine, and coming together at these kinds of events can change lives.
We are the infrastructure that derisks founders, expands markets, strengthens local economies, and increases the odds that investment produces real outcomes.
Involvement does more than fund programs and summits. It creates momentum. It brings new founders into the market. It expands the opportunity set. It builds the conditions where more companies can start, grow, hire, and thrive.
If you have catalytic capital or community partnership opportunities, this is your moment to deploy them where they can generate the highest long-term return, not just financially but in talent pipelines, regional competitiveness, and economic resilience.
You can be the catalyst. You can be the spark. You can be the node that makes the whole network stronger when we bring people together.
If you are ready to invest, this is your chance to shape the next wave of American innovation.
We are not done, and neither are you.
