Interested in building more resilient startup ecosystems…? It Takes a Valley

Most of what ecosystem builders know never gets written down anywhere. It gets discussed over coffee. Or in a hallway at a conference. Or in a Slack channel at 11:00PM when somebody three states over is trying to figure out how to keep their meetup alive for one more month. That’s why Anika Horn has spent a decade collecting that stuff. Through her Social Venturers newsletter. Through the Ecosystems for Change podcast. Through conversations with more than fifty community builders around the country. So it doesn’t get lost. And as of September, she’s captured a lot of those learnings in It Takes a Valley.

Which happened because 124 people — a lot of them the same sort of community builders the book is about — put up the money on Kickstarter to get it printed. That campaign closed back in June. And the books just recently shipped. A snagged a couple of boxes of them. You know, to further support the cause.

It Takes a Valley is a practitioner’s guide to building entrepreneurial ecosystems, drawn from a decade of field research, podcast interviews, and on-the-ground conversations with more than fifty community builders across the United States (and a few beyond). It tells the human story of the connectors, conveners, and community champions who work behind the scenes to create the conditions for entrepreneurs to find support, build relationships, and grow businesses that strengthen local economies. Part narrative record, part practical field guide, it is the book the ecosystem building field has been waiting for.

Here’s Anika on Visit Staunton’s podcast back in April, on the idea behind that phrase.

The book runs 334 pages, and it’s available in hardcover ($30), paperback ($20), and ebook ($9.99) — from indie bookstores, from her site, or from Bookshop.org.

I turn up in it. Which you are more than welcome to skip right past. But, maybe here’s something you shouldn’t skip: If you’d like your chance to win a free copy of the book, join my Patreon as a paid supporter and/or show up the weekly watch party of the latest startup news. I’ll be randomly selecting participants from each to receive a free copy of the book. (And if you do both, you double your chances of winning.)

For more information or to pick up a copy, visit It Takes a Valley.

[Full disclosure: I’m one of the contributors to the book. And that Bookshop link is my affiliate link, so I get a small cut if you buy through it.]