This week's LaunchLetter was almost titled Nashville can't wait

And it probably should have been.

When I was on my way up the elevator to help host Nashville Tech Gives Back, I couldn’t help but think I might be in a dream sequence. I’m not downtown on week nights, or any night. I started wondering, “Did this building even exist when I moved here? I cannot remember. There are too many buildings. I should be home by now. Am I doing what I’m supposed to be doing in this elevator and in life? Why am I always drawn to community? I’m spending time helping with event coordinating as a hobby. Why? I feel like I didn’t contribute enough because I didn’t have time. What would be waiting for me if I did commit more time? Time is up, we are already here.”

Photo by Cullen Jones on Unsplash. You can see the AB building from here. It’s the third one from the left of the Batman Building.

Okay, I must be dreaming because the first person I see when I depart the world’s fastest elevator ride is Freddie O’ Connell. Freddie used to work at the same place I worked. I’ve heard so much about his leadership as a council member and now as a mayoral candidate. We chatted. I don’t always remember exactly the conversations I have in dreams all the time. Sometimes I only remember a feeling. But this wasn’t a dream. Freddie didn’t know my 24-floor-high elevator anxieties. But he did tell me about some of the things he’s doing and a few goals he has to make Nashville a place everyone can live. That’s a really heavy phrase I keep using by the way. I have a lot of thoughts right now around the role the startup and tech communities play in our city. There are a lot of really powerful people in tech and startups here. Can Nashville become a better place to live for everybody? What role should we be playing to make our communities better? Instead of focusing on how we can be more like X city at X thing, what can we be doing to make Nashville a great place to live for everyone?

I think initiatives like Nashville Tech Gives Back are the way to start. For some who just moved here, the non-profits we celebrated at AllianceBernstein were some people’s first introduction to incredible Nashville-based community programs. At the event we talked about how popular it is as a Nashvillian to be involved with your city. Nashvillians volunteer. Monique Villa mentioned some of the things locals have rallied around since 2020- the tornado, the 2nd Avenue Bombing on Christmas Day, the pandemic- all of which affected Freddie’s district, the very same district where AllianceBernstein is located and where we were standing that night. In the LaunchLetter interview that I published today he said “Nashville can’t wait,” which is how I felt after chatting with him. He’s right that Nashville cannot wait for solutions to problems like the rising cost of living, housing, education, tourism, transportation, childcare. Sprawling outside the huge windows at AB was Music City, It City, our city. Powerful people make decisions every day that effect all of us who live, work or experience Nashville on a daily basis. Many of them I disagree with, especially lately.

Communities like StartupNash are important connectors to accompany real life and our local challenges and opportunities. I want to help connect. I want to strengthen our startup community in a way that benefits the place we choose to live and everyone here. I want to give more people access to resources for starting new businesses, and I want to be a part of an open community where we solve problems together. Walking away that evening I had a thought: “This is waiting for me to contribute my strengths.” It was a bit of a different thought than “Nashville can’t wait.” And maybe I felt that sense of urgency in my heart, because I made the decision that evening to commit full-time to building something out of StartupNash.

I believe everyone should have access to resources to start and grow their own business. We have a collective network that packs a punch when we share it together. I believe that sharing knowledge spreads wealth. We’re building this community to be a part of Nashville, not a side-effect of growth. And I guess I have to insert the cheesy but true phrase here: I believe in Nashville.

I don’t believe in gatekeeping, or exclusivity, or tech bubble silos, or an idea that only some people are special enough to start a business. Entrepreneurship comes from anywhere. That’s what makes it so powerful.

If you got this far, maybe we should talk. I’d love to hear from you. Most importantly, I want you to be part of our community if you’re not already.