Hello Reader,

I'm in the midst of customer discovery (aka conversations with local entrepreneurs), and I'm loving every minute of it!

Seriously, if I could get paid to spend all day with small business owners, lend an ear, understand their challenges, and go out to find solutions, I would do it!

Is there anything better than listening to the dreamers and doers in our community and exploring ways to help them grow and become more profitable?

If you ask me, it's the best!

Here's my second installment of building an entrepreneurial ecosystem in real life, and in real time!

Field Notes

A question I've been struggling with for weeks is whether entrepreneurship is all that it's cracked up to be.

For years, I've advocated for entrepreneurship as a way to create generational wealth and empower people to forge their own path to a good life. Maybe create some jobs along the way.

But as I've been talking to local small business owners, I'm wondering whether it's all it's been hyped up to be.

One entrepreneur told me they took months to buy themselves new socks and underwear because it was an expense they hadn't budgeted for.

Another told me that they had a retirement fund in principle, but hadn't paid into it in years.

One told me, "I started a business because I love creating things, not to become an expert in taxes, bookkeeping, HR, marketing, or managing people."

The more entrepreneurs I talk to, the better I understand that expecting entrepreneurs to be good at ALL the things is unrealistic.

Often, the skills and expertise needed to manage and grow a successful business are diametrically opposed to the creative thinking and problem-solving that makes them good at their craft. And I'm not just talking about makers.

So one of the questions that is guiding me in this discovery process is

I'm not saying we should run the business for them. Obviously, that's part of the deal. But how can we make it a little easier, more accessible, less of an ordeal where each of them reinvents the wheel on their own?

I also can't imagine I'm the first or only ecosystem builder who is asking.

Yes, we can offer more training but it still assumes that the business owners do it all themselves.

I have a hunch we could subsidize a shared back office for a while and build capacity that way.

I assume there are even more ways to better support local entrepreneurs that don't require them to become a marketer-accountant-HR-manager-web-designer-bookkeeper all in one.

If you have figured out an effective strategy to equip entrepreneurs with the skills, training, or resources to run their businesses well, reply to this email and let me know what's working for you!

Ecosystem Update: Weeks 1-3 out of 8

In part 1 of this series, I laid out how I'm approaching this eight-week ecosystem- building project. Here's an update on the four strategies that guide my work:

1. Entrepreneurs are our customers

I interviewed three small business owners and three entrepreneurial support organizations to better understand the current support landscape, its gaps, and the myriad challenges entrepreneurs face in our region. I have a dozen more of these conversations on the calendar over the coming weeks and I can't wait!

2. Earn your place in the room

I'm attending entrepreneur-centered and -adjacent events to spend more time with them and get a feel for what they're experiencing in our region.

And yet, I have to be realistic with a family at home and limited hours in this contract, and in the week!

3. Communities move at the speed of trust

Since our region is vast, rural, and decentralized, I launched a short survey to reach entrepreneurs outside my direct backyard.

My goal is to use survey results to inform my upcoming listening tours and to design meaningful events that meet local entrepreneurs' needs.

4. Pilot events to find out what works

We hosted our first virtual session and have three more lined up: virtual and in-person, in the morning and at lunchtime.

It's not a representative sample, but I hope to learn what works and what doesn't for the majority of entrepreneurs.

Featured Resource: ESHIP Converge

The future of entrepreneurship will not be built by one organization, one community or one model. We're here to build it together!

​ESHIP Converge 2026 will bring people from across the country together to connect what is working, confront the challenges holding our field back and align around what we can build next.

As an ESHIP Converge Partner and core team member, I'm proud to be part of a growing national community working toward a more inclusive, connected and sustainable future for entrepreneurship in America.

ESHIP Converge is for entrepreneurs and the people who support entrepreneurship across communities, organizations, networks, and industries.

If that sounds like you, join us November 17–18 from 12–5 p.m. ET!

Bookish

Here's what I've been reading:

• I finished The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. And it was the PERFECT read leading up to Halloween! Even though I originally read it 13 years ago (the series spans 5 books over 20 years), I didn't remember any details, so in a way, it was a new book to me. But the feeling? The feeling was the same. Such. Good. Storytelling.
• ​Mad Mabel, Sally Hepworth. Mabel Fitzpatrick is the youngest Australian to ever be convicted of murder. At age 81, her past catches up to her. A witty, fast-moving novel spanning two timelines, with a main character I absolutely felt for.
• ​Peck & Peck, Bonnie Garmus. This is Bonnie's second novel after Lessons in Chemistry, and it's hard to put down. A young poet - discouraged from poetry by everyone around him - finally lands a job with the most prestigious poetry publication in the US (Peck & Peck), but it's not all it's cracked up to be. The writing is captivating and sublimely funny.

Shen-Anika-ns

Europe is calling, and I need your help!

As always, I plan to spend a few weeks in Europe in June/July 2027, and I'd love to plan a little book tour to bring It Takes a Valley to changemakers across the continent!

I'm looking for opportunities to tap into existing events: as a speaker, a workshop host, a facilitator, or simply with an author talk about all things startups, entrepreneurship, economic development and innovation through a systems lens!

I can google relevant events, but without a warm introduction, these won't bear fruit.

If you are involved with organizing conferences, convenings, un-conferences, workshops etc. for changemakers in Europe next summer, I'd love to talk! Simply respond to this email!

I'll be back in your inbox in two weeks!

In camaraderie,

Anika