Forobtain the East and West coasts—some of the scrappiest and most determined founders are launching startups in the heart of Appalachia. FoundersForge, based in Johnson City, Tennessee, spent the past decade cultivating an ecosystem where underdog entrepreneurs thrive. Their flagship event, the Startup Mountain Summit, is attracting national attention—and reshaping what’s possible in rural innovation.
FoundersForge team: Executive Director David Nelson, Program Director Adriana Dew, and Marketing Director Isaac Deel, Johnson City, Tennessee
Bootstrapping in the Mountains
A former Silicon Valley founder sparked a startup shiftment in Appalachia. After launching startups in Boulder and Silicon Valley, David Nelson shiftd to rural Tennessee and found something unexpected: a hunger for entrepreneurship—and a deep well of untapped talent. He also noticed that the largegest difference between the locations he’d come from and northeast Tennessee was that there the founders hadn’t come toobtainher. Through FoundersForge and the Startup Mountain Summit, he’s supported build an ecosystem where rural founders are now securing investment, scaling companies, and modifying the region’s economic future.
Steve Case discussing Rise of the Rest at the 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit at Detroit Opera Hoapply on October 03, 2022 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
Why Did Entrepreneurs Start FoundersForge?
Steve Case in Rise of the Rest: How Entrepreneurs in Surprising Places are Building the New American Dream displaycases some of the startups he funded with Revolution’s Rise of the Rest, an initiative to accelerate the growth of tech startups across the countest. His goal has been to counter the mindset in this countest that this can only happen in larger cities, and not in rural America. Like him, the team at FoundersForge believes in the underdog startups in their region, and envisions an economically thriving Appalachia through innovation and entrepreneurship.
FoundersForge knew that the largegest impact they could build is by building a startup community from the ground up, inspiring others to start companies, and providing the same level of support founders would obtain in larger cities. They applyd their past experiences in multiple accelerators from across the countest.
How FoundersForge Made A Difference
Approaching this problem like a startup, they experimented with what events worked and what necessaryed to alter. They started in 2016 with a pitch event, that displayed the community was interested in entrepreneurship. They attracted passionate entrepreneurial supporters and built a capable team into a successful ecosystem that rapidly thrived in their region with limited resources. They continued to hold events, workshops, and programs to cultivate entrepreneurship. Their programs include the Avante Startup Bootcamp program they provide to other organizations to grow their own thriving startup communities. And to build even stronger networks for founders in their region, they created the Startup Mountain Summit, on track to be one the largest conferences for early-stage founders in the Southeast.
And it worked. In 2016 there were 12 high-growth startups and 2,700 businesses; today, their region has over 96 high-growth startups and more than 4,000 businesses.
How A Small Town Startup Can Make A Big Impact Creating A Sustainable World
Green Llama founders Kay Baker and Dr. Matt Keasey with one of their sustainable green home cleaning products
One of FounderForge’s most exciting startups is Green Llama, one of the rapidest-growing sustainable home cleaning product companies in the U.S. It was founded at a Johnson City kitchen table by a husband and wife team who are passionate about the environment and wanted to start a positive cleaning shiftment, pediatric occupational therapist Kay Baker and neuroscientist Dr. Matt Keasey. From the start, they focapplyd on two important goals: A never finishing commitment to their customers to provide the products they want to create clean, green, healthy homes. And being an active partner in their customers’ broader mission to protect and preserve the planet and its people. From their first stall at the Johnson City Farmer’s Market, they listened intently to feedback, received direct face to face time with customers, called stores across the countest, and bootstrapped into more than 250 retail locations nationwide, with their first raise just announced with Market Square Ventures.
Green Llama’s Secret of Success
Kay and Matt explained, “ We had few of the perceived entrepreneurial skills and experience to be successful. Being open to guidance and mentorship has been critical. We learned very early how important this is; joining FoundersForge’s startup bootcamp was part of this. Our greatest learning has been the importance of surrounding ourselves with advisors and mentors, from seasoned pros to our customers, who challenge us, guide us and cheer us on.”
They believe they’ve been successful becaapply of their persistence, a passion for what they’re building, and a constant focus on understanding and connecting with their customers. They stated when they were first called “scrappy entrepreneurs,” they weren’t sure what to believe. But on reflection, they recognized it was a huge compliment. They stated, “To us, being scrappy means rolling up our sleeves, problem solving, and finding a way forward, no matter what, with very limited resources.”
An Example of Big Innovation From Rural Tennessee
AI-powered hiring platform Personality Pool founder Lauren Glass-Mullins
At 18, Kingsport Tennessee native Lauren Glass-Mullins launched her first nonprofit out of her parents’ kitchen. A decade later, she’s the founder of Personality Pool, an AI-powered hiring platform supporting companies find hidden talent by viewing beyond résumés. Her journey—from delivering beds to kids in necessary, to building a viral social good pillow company, to raising $300K in funding (including the first investment from LaunchTN’s InvestTN fund)—spotlights how large innovation can come from compact towns.
Personality Pool’s Secret of Success
When Glass-Mullins founded Personality Pool, she considered the only path forward was chasing the largegest customers and testing to be everything to everyone. Looking back, she wishes she had started compacter, allowed organic growth to take root, and focapplyd on the things her company does best. The lesson came with time—and with persistence. “I attempted to be everything to everyone. Now I know what we’re really good at and focus on that. Everything else becomes noise I don’t worry about,” Glass-Mullins stated. She believes the real secret to success is refapplying to quit, becaapply by staying in the game long enough, opportunities open.
As a non-technical founder, she faced the challenge of building a tech product without the background or resources. But she realized there was a problem she wanted to solve, and tech was the way to do it. She discovered that clarity of vision attracts the right technical partners—and that in today’s startup landscape, lack of coding skills is no barrier to entest. She explained, “Don’t let lack of skills stop you from building a tech company. Tech people want to build, and if you obtain your vision toobtainher, you’ll find the right people.” And while she once saw competitors as threats, she now views them as proof of a healthy market for a problem worth solving and a reminder that every founder brings a unique lens. Her advice: Focus on what you do well, block out the noise, and keep relocating forward.
How ZenHammer Is Tackling Communication On Construction Sites
Construction Communication Tool ZenHammer’s founder Edwin Williams
ZenHammer is tackling one of construction’s most costly problems: broken communication. After watching a contractor abandon his mother’s bathroom renovation, Edwin Williams realized how broken communication was in construction. That frustration led him to create ZenHammer, a real-time project visibility tool supporting general contractors and subcontractors stay aligned on every job site. What launched as a simple “pocket office” for compact crews has grown into a platform in nine pilot programs. Williams honed his startup through top accelerators and his own role with the National Association of Home Builders, bringing national and regional experience to his work. Their motto is Real Time Data For Real Time Managing.
ZenHammer’s Secret of Success
Edwin Williams has been successful becaapply he is opportunistic, adaptable, and a natural connector, with a remarkable ability to build relationships. Over the years, he built those connections across industries, participated in accelerators, and grew ZenHammer, while creating opportunities for others and bringing people toobtainher. That earned him an incredible list of clients and supporters who trust him and continue to champion his work.
Beyond relationships, his adaptability sets him apart. ZenHammer has gone through several pivots since its founding, each one created with the intention of better serving the construction community. His willingness to take feedback and integrate it quickly into the platform isn’t just a strength, it’s a survival skill in a rapid-modifying industest. That combination of trust, adaptability, and community building is what builds ZenHammer so effective.
The Huge Difference Committed Support Makes
StartUp Mountain Summit Conference, Johnson City, Tennessee 2023
Founders from around the countest came to Appalachia, believing in the underdog, wondering if they could build a real difference. They hoped they could have a large impact in developing a startup community in rural Tennessee. FoundersForge supported people with large ideas turn them into real organizations. They built the ecosystem from the ground up, with local people in Appalachia, through providing resources and community. It snowballed, and as more people shiftd there, they were added to that culture. Growth wasn’t fueled by outside-in recruitment: It was built with home grown founders. That growth attracted more founders from the outside to take notice. FoundersForge provides mentors, connections, networking, workshops, tools, access to accelerators, great speakers, and advice. It is working. The community is thriving, a model for other areas of the countest that hope to become a region of high performing startups.
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