If You’re Building in Michigan, Your Map Is Too Small

Michigan’s startup ecosystem is often talked about city by city — Detroit, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Traverse City. Not to mention smaller towns and communities surrounding these metro areas. But founders who keep their strategy inside municipal boundaries miss where much of the real leverage sits. In Michigan, capital flows, talent, ecosystem efforts, and policies largely operate at the state level. 

Therefore, if you want to build something durable here, your map has to get bigger than your own community.

Over the last year working with founders across Michigan’s ecosystem, I saw firsthand the differing vibes across cities, regions, and municipalities. I experienced the ways in which geography, resources, networks, policies, and infrastructure influenced how, when, and where founders could build. Through all of those experiences, I realized that for many Michigan founders, city-only thinking can lower the ceiling for support, access, and opportunity. 

This is because Michigan’s innovation assets are distributed not to one metro, but throughout the state. Universities, capital, and industries anchor different geographies, such as the University of Michigan’s own innovation ecosystem in Ann Arbor, Michigan State University’s entrepreneurship programs, Wayne State University’s research and mobility work, and Grand Rapids’ growing startup and health tech innovation scene. Even the recognized, interconnected hub of Ann Arbor and Detroit is regional, and commuting between the two is commonplace. 

The Michigan innovation ecosystem is a network, distributed throughout the state. And those who recognize this will have the most room to grow. 

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Capital in Michigan is Largely Statewide

Many founders underestimate how cross-regional capital really is in the state. Invest Michigan, ID Ventures, Invest UP, Ann Arbor SPARK capital, MSU Research Foundation, Michigan Rise, and numerous other funds invest beyond their immediate zip codes. Angel groups and Michigan VCs routinely invest outside of their own metros. 

And as The Secret VC recently noted, raising is both a math and relationship game. Which means it’s best to understand the full landscape of players available to you, to ensure you’re pitching to investors whose expectations align with the kind of company you want to build. 

In Michigan, your investor could be 2 hours away, and still very much in your ecosystem.

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Policies, Incentives, and Talent Pipelines Ignore City Boundaries

Workforce movement in Michigan is largely regional, especially as opportunities expand with remote and hybrid work. Michigan has more than 15 public universities and 28 community colleges spread across the state. Entrepreneurial student programs create opportunities for both local and international students to get hands-on startup experience before they walk at graduation. Limiting yourself to recruiting only within your immediate region can therefore artificially shrink your talent pool. 

In addition, tax credits, state-funded grant programs for mobility or manufacturing, tech transfer programs, and other incentives and support exist at a state level. Founders sometimes only consider what resources are available within their own county or municipality, when there is more available to them. Many early-stage founders never explore these programs, not because they don’t qualify, but because they don’t know where to look.

Michigan’s Ecosystem Builders Already Operate Statewide

One year in as an ecosystem builder, it’s apparent that ecosystem builder relationships are interconnected between regions across the state. Whether or not this connectivity translates to direct founder value is a question for founders themselves. 

Michigan Tech Week is one manifestation of this cross-state collaboration. Other regional tech weeks, such as Northern Michigan Startup Week, Tech Week Grand Rapids, and numerous others, serve as opportunities for ecosystem builders, founders, investors, and community members to experience the energy and make connections within each respective region.

Those working to build the Michigan ecosystem benefit from thinking at a statewide level, as this serves as a more robust map of what’s available to the founders in front of them. Founders could benefit from thinking with a larger map, too. 

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What’s At Risk?

Perhaps the greatest risk of over-networking locally at the expense of a statewide strategy is to become the biggest fish in a small pond. How often do you hear mention of limited opportunities or access? I’ve heard it here, and I'm sure across the Midwest it's a common story. And yet, in this state, other metro areas may be worth exploring for that very reason. Just because it doesn’t exist close by doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist anywhere in your ecosystem. Who knows when a connection elsewhere in the state could save founders and ecosystem builders alike months of time and resources, rather than reinventing the wheel?

City or community loyalty can provide a solid foundation, but thinking only at that level can also cap your growth. 

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Where to Start

In Michigan (and probably in other neighboring states as well), success can happen when founders learn to build at the level the system actually operates — and more often than not, that level is the state. What Michigan might lack in geographic density at this point, remote tools and networks can make up for and provide leverage beyond your own zip code. 

Not every networking opportunity will add value. Map out the key dates on the calendar and regional/statewide networks that could get you closer to the aligned customers, capital, or connections you need to drive outsized impact. Make the effort to establish solid, strategic connections across the state. 

In Michigan — and across our region — if your strategy stops at the city limits, you may be leaving your biggest advantages on the table. Whether you live in the city or a small town, raise your ceiling. Think statewide and give yourself room to grow.

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Aria Spears leads cross-functional projects in Michigan’s startup ecosystem at Michigan Founders Fund. She’s worked in community-building organizations for ten years, is a Duke grad student studying community innovation, and previously lived in Fayetteville, NC.