Chris Heivly is a serial entrepreneur (MapQuest co-founder) and early-stage investor with company-building experience from $0 to $25M. On Tuesday, February 13, he visited Charlotte. During his visit, he had a few engaging conversations with Charlotte entrepreneurs and shared his insights on improving our ecosystem.

Here are ideas he shared with Charlotte entrepreneurs regarding the attitudes that underpin success of any successful community:

1. Create the Give First mentality. The more people are asking: “What can I do for you?”, the healthier the ecosystem becomes.
2. Nurture networks rather than hierarchies. People, and not organizations, are nodes in the ecosystem.  The number of meaningful connections that happen, and the viscosity of these connections are critical for progress.
3. Don’t ask for permission when making the introduction. Just make it happen.
4. Have someone run the community. Things do not just get better without direction.