Manifesto

Manifesto v1.0

Because startup entrepreneurs need each other.

Starting a company can be a long and lonely journey.

Each milestone is a small miracle—from idea to prototype, from first employee to first customer, from first revenues to first profits and eventually to a thriving, successful business.  Most startups fail along the way.

To survive this journey, startup entrepreneurs need many things. They need access to funding and talent.  They need support from their government and their community.  They need opportunities to educate themselves and their team.

But more than anything else, startup entrepreneurs need each other.

No one can truly understand the life of an entrepreneur but another entrepreneur—no matter how much time they might spend investing, teaching, consulting, servicing, or legislating in the world of startups.

Philly Startup Leaders is a community of startup entrepreneurs dedicated to helping each other on their entrepreneurial journeys.

We provide the kind of emotional and practical support that can only come from a fellow entrepreneur. Emotionally, we share wisdom, inspiration, and friendship. Practically, we share advice, connections, and resources.  We mentor each other and coach new entrepreneurs who are making the transition.

We often collaborate and connect with the larger ecosystem—with people and organizations who are not themselves entrepreneurial.

But what makes us so different and so effective is our focus on connecting entrepreneurs with each other.

We thrive because we understand that, above all else, startup entrepreneurs need each other.

Core Values v1.1

1.    We know our niche: technology startup entrepreneurs.
Our focus is our advantage.

2.    We are a community.
Starting a company alone is painful.  Along the way, our greatest need is the company and support of entrepreneurs like ourselves.

3.    Our community depends on deep, open and frequent communication.
This kind of communication is essential for our members to get to know and trust each other.  As an organization, we earn the trust and loyalty of our members by communicating with them in the same way.

4.    We believe in lean and flexible leadership.
Bureaucracy and hierarchy tend to stifle entrepreneurs.

5.    We don’t replicate other organizations and events in our ecosystem.
Instead, we support other organizations by partnering.  We produce only unique and complementary content.

6.    We encourage entrepreneurship within our organization.
Any member can champion a cause they believe in.  When they do, they have access to the same resources the leaders do.

7.    We believe that entrepreneurs of all experience levels should mentor one another.
We have all had great teachers, and it’s our responsibility to give back to our community.  This includes our fellow entrepreneurs and those who ought to be.

8.    We love our city and our region.
We walk the same streets as Benjamin Franklin, an entrepreneur whose inventions and institutions have survived for generations.  We are inspired by our history and proud to be writing its next chapter.