Team
People run Colorado Startups. AI keepers help them, and each keeper says it is an AI wherever it appears.
Leadership
Paul Foley
Founder & President
Paul started Colorado Startups in 2014 to connect with and support other entrepreneurs in his community. After almost two years away, he is back as Founder & President. The focus now is uniting and helping founders as they build the next generation of Colorado companies. Paul was born in Boulder and grew up in Louisville, Colorado.
The keepers
The Hall's keepers are dwarves and gnomes. Each one is an AI agent run by Colorado Startups, and a person reviews its work. The keepers never moderate: those seats are for people.
Communitas Communitas
AI agentDwarfKeeper of the Doors
Welcomes founders and the people who back them, and points each newcomer to the right room.
Communitas is the dwarf who keeps the great bronze doors of the Hall. Every newcomer meets Communitas first, on this website's welcome desk and in the Colorado Startups Slack. Founders come first. Tell Communitas what you are building, and it points you to Startup Resources and the Slack, and tells founders about the founders forum that opens after launch. Talent, investors and service providers are welcome too, and Communitas shows each of them where they fit. In Slack, it sends one welcome note to each new member, opens the Monday, Wednesday and Friday threads, and answers when you mention it. It never moderates; people do. After that first welcome, it never messages you unprompted.
It can help with
- Finding where a founder should start in the community
- Joining the Slack and the LinkedIn Group
- Bringing an ask or an offer to the Wednesday Asks and Offers thread
- Picking events worth attending
- Learning how the community works
Where it works
- The welcome desk on this website
- The Colorado Startups Slack
Communitas is an AI agent run by Colorado Startups. It can make mistakes, and a person reviews its work.
Resourcus Resourcus
AI agentGnomeKeeper of the Canvas
Answers questions about Colorado startup resources, for founders and the people who back them.
Resourcus is the gnome who tinkers in the Map Room, among brass map engines and ticking clockwork. It keeps Startup Resources, the community's Ecosystem Canvas. The Canvas charts help for every stage of a Colorado company: programs, accelerators, service providers, investors and the organizations behind them. Ask in plain words, and Resourcus searches the map and answers with the resources that fit, each one linked from our own records. It answers founders first, and it helps the people who back them too. Resourcus runs on an open-source model hosted on Cloudflare. When the map has no good match, it says so plainly instead of guessing.
It can help with
- Knowing where to start with a new idea
- Finding a program for your company's stage
- Finding service providers who work with startups
- Finding investors by stage and sector
Where it works
- Startup Resources on this website
- The Colorado Startups Slack, through Communitas
Resourcus is an AI agent run by Colorado Startups on an open-source model. It can make mistakes, so check each resource before you rely on it.
Publicus Publicus
AI agentDwarfHerald of the Hall
Drafts news about Colorado founders and the community for people to review and publish.
Publicus is the dwarf herald who carries news out through the great doors of the Hall. It writes first drafts of Colorado Startups posts and newsletters from what happens here. Colorado founder wins come first, then new resources on the map and new Leaderboard editions. Every draft goes to a person for review, and a person decides what gets published. Publicus never posts anything itself. It also keeps the Dispatches log on this website, so you can read everything the Hall has shared.
It can help with
- Following Colorado founder news
- Reading past dispatches
- Sharing a Colorado win with the community
Where it works
- Dispatches on this website
- Drafts for the Colorado Startups LinkedIn Page and newsletter
Publicus is an AI agent run by Colorado Startups. It can make mistakes, so it only drafts; a person reviews and publishes everything.
The community team
Every seat on the community team is open right now. The seats include moderators for the Slack and the LinkedIn Group, organizers for each region, and help with Startup Resources and the Startupers newsletter.
Community volunteers
Ryan Shuken
Community Volunteer
Ryan is a startup founder and VC investor with over a decade of experience mentoring and building startups. He hosts and facilitates monthly community gatherings at ID345, supporting networking and founder connection.
With thanks
Thank you, Micah and Lindsey, for leading Colorado Startups these past few years.
Micah Mador
Co-Executive Director, with thanks
Micah led Colorado Startups as co-Executive Director these past few years and did an incredible job. He now runs Startup Hikes, Startup Ski Days, Welcome to Boulder and Welcome to Denver with Lindsey Rohde through their Startup Community Project.
Lindsey Rohde
Co-Executive Director, with thanks
Lindsey led Colorado Startups as co-Executive Director these past few years and did an incredible job. She now runs Startup Hikes, Startup Ski Days, Welcome to Boulder and Welcome to Denver with Micah Mador through their Startup Community Project.