Every community wants to be a "hub" for startups. Every community wants to publicize that they have a "strong startup ecosystem". How do entrepreneurs find the right people to launch and grow their startups? How do communities use their startup ecosystem effectively? This was StartupPoint's challenge.

Most solutions started off with mapping the ecosystem. My first iteration was a paper map of the Atlanta startup ecosystem, folded like a road map (below). People loved this map, particularly how it was folded. However, it was obsolete within a month after printing it. The existing digital solutions focused on putting points on a geographic map, like Represent.LA and the Barcelona Startup Map. Putting pins on a geographic map seemed logical, but it turned out to be useless to entrepreneurs.

I conducted user research in the form of entrepreneur workshops in six cities. There were two user types: (1) entrepreneurs, and (2) startup connectors, or "point people". Entrepreneurs consistently wanted three features:

1) We want to connect with people, not institutions.

2) We need up-to-date information, not information from a year ago.

3) We need to know how much our peers trust these people.

This feedback stood in stark contrast to current solutions.

Startup connectors, or "point people", had a different problem. Everyone wanted to meet them, but they only had so much time. Their challenge was to get information out of their heads (their "mental Rolodex") and into the public sphere.

The prototype images below illustrate the evolution StartupPoint made from a geographic map of points to something in line with what entrepreneurs want. Entrepreneurs in the workshops likened it to Tinder for startups.

The driving force behind StartupPoint is "crowd wisdom". Members can point to, or like, the people they trust most. In any community, there are a small number of people who most people trust. What entrepreneurs really want to know is who these people, this small group of trusted people, in turn trust to help startups. Startup connectors said that they spend most of their time pointing entrepreneurs to other people. This process allowed them to repeat this function at scale without using more time. 

StartupPoint does not allow for messaging. Entrepreneurs want messaging, but the connectors do not. Most connectors said that they make themselves available through public office hours or events. Instead of messaging, connectors invite others to meet them where they are available. 

A final evolution was understanding that the people entrepreneurs trust most are other entrepreneurs. Previous solutions were one-way: organizations make themselves the experts. StartupPoint goes both ways. A person can be both an entrepreneur who seeks support as well as a trusted resource to other entrepreneurs. 

This evolution was also reflected in the StartupPoint logo. The first logo was inspired by the European "meeting point" signs found in train stations and airports. Like these meeting points, StartupPoint aimed to be the digital meeting point. In the final logo, the icon became two-way. The white arrows point out, and the blue arrows point in. This design reflects the new understanding of startup ecosystems. 

- Play with the interactive prototype

- Read newspaper article about a user experience