Hello Reader,

You've probably heard me mention Larkin Garbee before: She was one of the first ecosystem builders I ever met, she introduced me to the field and gave me the tools and guidance to find my way.

When I joined the Richmond ecosystem in 2014/2015, she ran a monthly event called Startup Journeys, where local founders shared the real story of building their companies.

To most people, it probably was a good time and a chance to catch up with others in the ecosystem.

But underneath the surface, Larkin was doing something much more impactful: She curated themes, pairing well-known founders with lesser-known but equally impressive entrepreneurs, and she invited founders back years later to share what had happened since their first appearance: growth, pivots, acquisitions, even shutdowns.

Those follow-up conversations were often the most honest and community-building of all.

She also closed every event the same way: She asked each person to commit publicly to one thing they would do in the next 24 hours.

No one left simply inspired. Each attendee walked away with a specific job because they had made that commitment in front of others.

What Larkin had built, without necessarily calling it this, was infrastructure that is essential to thriving ecosystems: a regular cadence that gave the ecosystem a heartbeat, a culture of trust that normalized failure, and a template that was straight forward enough to repeat without reinventing it each time.

When you read It Takes a Valley, not only will you meet Larkin, but another 50+ ecosystem builders who share what's working for them (and what isn't) in their ecosystem.

Book Update:

We are almost two weeks into raising funds for my community-supported, first edition of It Takes a Valley. I'll be honest, with $4,415 raised out of $12,000 I'm getting a little nervous. I want to put at least one copy of this book into the hands of all 1,542 of you - so you can make a difference in your community without burning out.

Let me break down what the money goes toward:

What this budget doesn't include

• 286 hours of writing over 2.5 years
• 112 lattes at my local coffee shop
• 7 podcast seasons
• 163 written interviews
• 125 fortnightly newsletters
• 6 test-readers time and notes on the first manuscript

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has pre-ordered their copy!

And if you haven't yet, but want to support this book, you can do so here (a mountain of gratitude and some professional development opportunities built in!):

Featured events:

June 9: The Future of Ecosystem Building (virtual)

Together with my friends at EcoMap, I'm co-hosting a one-hour live conversation with three practitioners who each see this field from a different vantage point:

• Cameron Law at Sacramento State,
• Fay Horwitt of WayBuilders and the ESHIP Alliance, and
• Morgan Allen at Right to Start.

After some conference chats these last four weeks, I was keen on hosting an honest conversation about what people are actually grappling with: shrinking federal funding, AI as a tool for resource-constrained practitioners, and what sustainable ecosystem building actually costs the people doing it.

Got a question that you've been too afraid to ask? This is for you! And it's free:

Bonus: All three panelists also shared their expertise in It Takes a Valley, so you get a super-exclusive preview, and a chance to chat with them in person!

Sep 31-Oct 1: Join us in Richmond (in-person)

Startup Champions Network is convening in Richmond this fall if, and only if, 35 people purchase a (very affordable!) Summit ticket!

Richmond was my first home when I immigrated to the US in 2015. It's a city shaped by resilience and love of place: It's home to Jackson Ward, one of America's great historic Black Wall Streets, as well as Lighthouse Network, a nationally recognized accelerator with SCN roots. Lighthouse was one of my early gigs, it's where Larkin and I first collaborated.

This Summit's programming is built around Richmond’s vibrant arts and culture scene, its history, and the people on the ground who always come together to make their city better.

If you've been thinking about going to a Summit, be our guest! And if you’ve been to a Summit, what are you waiting for?

On my desk: We're going live this Friday!

After spending some time at Technical.ly's conference in May, Richard Lin and Austin Lopesilvero invited Aaron Taylor and me to chat about all things ecosystem building and podcasting this Friday! Join us at 3 p.m. over on Youtube:

Bookish

Here's what I've been reading these last few weeks:

• ​Junge Frau, am Fenster stehend, Abendlicht, blaues Kleid, Alena Schroeder (German only). Historical fiction set in Berlin leading up to World War II, and the Berlin of the present. Fantastic read!
• ​This book made me think of you, Libby Page. Romance with a novel setup and not-so-novel writing. If you want a feel-good book this summer, this is a safe bet but beware of cliches🤷
• ​Tangleroot, Kalela Williams. Kalela is a local author, heads up the Virginia Festival of the Book and was our CreativeMornings speaker last October. Her book was adapted by a local puppet theater so I read it before catching the show. In brief: A young woman gets transplanted from Boston to Virginia and uncovers her family's twisted path.

Shen-Anika-ns

3 things I learned about the self-publishing industry:

• If you want to keep your copyright, self-publish. Large publishers not only take 90%+ of the profit but your intellectual property.
• Timelines are long. If I went with an established publisher, this book wouldn't see the light of day until 2028 at the earliest. I feel we need this book now, not two years from now.
• Margins are slim. Once the paperback is officially released on September 1, 2026, I make maximum $3 per copy sold.

If you could ask one of the 50+ practitioners in this book a single question, what would it be?

I'll be back in two weeks with a final push to help us get this book across the funding finish line.

In camaraderie,

Anika

P.S. Missed my last newsletter? Check out the previous issues of Impact Curator.