It started with a conversation. In 2002 or so, when I was teaching at the University of Colorado, a friend of mine introduced me to Brad Feld, a local venture capitalist. I asked Brad to join me at a conference we were hosting at the university’s Silicon Flatirons Center, which I founded in 1999. I don’t remember Brad’s exact response, but it was probably something like: “Why does the University of Colorado Boulder not engage with the local entrepreneurial community?” My response was that we needed to do better. Brad agreed to join a conference we hosted that year—and a partnership was born.

Brad is well known for his impact on Colorado’s entrepreneurial community, coining a powerful mantra that those involved with Silicon Flatirons follow: ”Give first.” I have watched Brad walk this talk, always asking others: “How can I help?” As a friend, mentor, investor, and champion, he has made a tremendous difference in Colorado. Together, Brad and I founded Startup Colorado in 2011. And one of the first success stories of Startup Colorado was Denver Startup Week, which is now known as Colorado Startup Week.

When we got together at Startup Colorado meetings, Brad often highlighted that entrepreneurs don’t need to ask permission to lead—they just need to be willing to do the work. That’s what Erik Mitisek did for Denver Startup Week. Erik called the first meeting, and folks like Nancy Phllips, Betty Arkell, and I joined in to help build what has become one of the biggest startup weeks in the world.

For me, the story of Colorado’s entrepreneurial community, of which I have been a part for 25 years, is about being willing to lean in and help one another. At one of those early Startup Colorado conversations, Bryan Leach, then an early founder at Ibotta, talked about Colorado as a community where we would celebrate each other’s successes. Today, Ibotta is one of those success stories. 

As Colorado’s next Governor, I am committed to telling those stories and helping keep Colorado as an innovation hub.

At this year’s Denver Startup Week, I joined a number of leaders, including Nicole Glaros, a local venture capitalist, and Robin Thurston, the founder of Outside, for a conversation about how we build a first-class experience economy in Colorado. As the moderator, Michael Zeisser, explained, experiences are more and more important in the 21st century economy, when people are increasingly prioritizing experiences. And Colorado is a well positioned and natural leader, particularly because of our abundance of outdoor recreation, an emerging therapeutics and natural medicine sector, the Sundance Film Festival, and an array of professional sports teams.

My answer to how we build world-class companies in Colorado—in the experience economy and otherwise—involves a lot of important work on many fronts. The long answer is outlined in this speech. The short answer is that we must lean into the spirit that Brad Feld embodied and ask: “How can I help?” As the Denver Post recently reported, what we did at the Silicon Flatirons Center, at Startup Colorado, at the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network we founded, and much more, was to lean into and reinforce this important cultural norm. As our next Governor, it will be a natural role for me to continue that work—and to be a champion of Colorado startups, small businesses, and growing companies.

* * *

In joining Colorado Startup Week, I not only took part in the experience economy panel, I also joined another event to celebrate young entrepreneurs. I also took part in side conversations about my continued commitment to this work, including joining the Colorado Technology Association for a roundtable conversation earlier that day. Over my career, I have witnessed the great story of Colorado’s startup community and know that we can make Colorado the best state to start and grow a business. That’s because I believe in our brand, our commitment to one another, and our promise to build a great future together. I am excited to get to work.