By Chris Heivly, Managing Director at Build The Fort and Startup Community EIR @ Techstars

Let’s talk about nature for a second. I think we can all agree that nature is a system — and everything in nature is connected. In nature, there’s this idea that the tiniest activity in one spot can ripple out and change something big somewhere else. A butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil, and boom — maybe it rains in Raleigh instead of Baltimore. It’s all connected. It's the butterfly effect.

Startup communities? Same deal.

Everything is dependent on something else. A founder gets a nudge from a mentor. That founder then helps another early-stage entrepreneur. That second founder introduces a friend to an investor. That investor ends up backing a third founder. Chain reaction. Butterfly flaps its wings.

Too often, people think the big stuff — the unicorns, the $50-million-dollar venture fund, the shiny new coworking building — is all we need to propel our ecosystem forward. And hey, sure, those things are important too. But if I’ve learned anything in building startup communities, it’s this:

The smallest actions are just as important as the largest.

Let me break it down:

• You showed up to a meetup and asked a new founder what they’re working on. They didn’t know anyone, and that one conversation made them feel like they belonged. That sense of belonging? It might be the reason they stay and build in your town instead of moving to a big city.

• You connected two people over coffee. No big pitch, just, “Hey, you two should meet.” One year later, they’ve started something together. That company employs 10 people now.

• You shared a story about a local founder’s grind. Someone else reads it, sees themselves in that story, and finally decides to take the leap.

These aren’t headlines. They’re sparks. Great startup communities are the sum of all the sparks.

Stealing and modifying a well-known cliche, “success is through a 1,000 nudges". (I am riffing on the death by a 1,000 cuts notion).

And here’s the kicker: in complex systems (and startup communities are definitely that), there’s no formula. You can’t engineer a unicorn. You can’t architect a thriving community from a single playbook. But you can nurture a whole bunch of small interactions that, over time, add up to something powerful.

Because every tiny action is part of the chain reaction.

Let’s be real — it’s tempting to chase the big wins. But the truth is, it’s the little stuff, repeated over and over, that moves the needle. So go ahead — flap those butterfly wings. You never know what storm you might spark (the good kind).

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