The Conscious Entrepreneur | EP 121
How Startup Colorado Is Rethinking Access To Capital, Founder Mentorship, and Support for Rural Entrepreneurs
Host: Sarah Lockwood | Guest: Brittany Romano (Executive Director, Startup Colorado)
Date: December 29, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Sarah Lockwood interviews Brittany Romano, Executive Director of Startup Colorado, for a deep dive into the unique challenges—and essential impact—of rural entrepreneurship. Brittany shares her personal journey as a rural founder, the evolution of Startup Colorado, and concrete ways the organization is improving access to capital, mentorship, and resources for business owners outside urban centers. The conversation offers inspiration, practical insight, and a systems-level perspective of what it takes to enable rural startups to thrive, not merely survive.

Main Themes & Purpose

• Explore what sets rural entrepreneurship apart: smaller communities, limited resources, and higher impact on local economies.
• Delve into Startup Colorado’s evolving model supporting rural ventures—from ideation to high-growth businesses.
• Examine innovative approaches to closing the capital gap through new networks and partnerships.
• Illuminate how listeners (urban or rural) can get involved and help bridge the divide.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Rural Entrepreneur Experience

[00:00–05:54]

• Difference from Urban Startups:
  Building a business in rural areas involves overcoming unique obstacles: reduced access to funding, mentorship, infrastructure, and skilled labor.
• Ripple Effects:
  The success or failure of a rural business deeply impacts the community, contributing to job creation and the local economy.
• Brittany Romano’s Story:
  From working with founders in iconic rural towns (Fruita, Sedona, Lake Tahoe, Moab) to buying and scaling her own business in Crested Butte, Brittany experienced firsthand the high stakes and challenges of rural startups.
• Role of Startup Colorado:
  Initially focused on the Denver/Boulder tech scene, the organization evolved to support statewide rural entrepreneurship, ultimately becoming an independent nonprofit.

Memorable Quote:
"A yoga studio, for example... People think it's this hobby lifestyle company and it's not. It's overwhelming and overwhelmingly difficult." – Brittany Romano [04:46]

2. Startup Colorado’s Model: Programs & Impact

[06:26–09:43]

• Support Across Stages:
  • Pre-accelerator to help with ideation and customer discovery.
  • Growth roadmap and strategic planning for early traction.
  • Pitch practice and preparing founders for competitions and investor conversations.
  • Specific focus on "the missing middle"—companies that don’t fit neat definitions but are major rural employers facing unique growth challenges.
• Mentorship & Readiness:
  Connecting founders with experienced mentors and advisors is central to their ecosystem-building approach.

Memorable Quote:
"We do a lot of work around ideation... trying to help these aspiring business owners to be as thoughtful for as long as possible into their business life cycle." – Brittany Romano [07:10]

3. Rethinking Capital for Rural Startups

[09:43–16:31]

• Major Capital Gaps:
  Most capital (venture and angels) is concentrated along Colorado’s Front Range rather than available to rural founders.
• Strategic Response:
  • Advocacy to increase rural flows of both debt and risk capital.
  • Aggregating and attracting more capital providers (banks, CDFI lenders, angel groups).
  • De-risking ventures to make them more appealing to lenders and investors.
  • Notable partnerships, e.g., Howdy Partners venture fund, which is destigmatizing rural deal flow.
  • Launching the RAIN (Rural Angel Investment Network) initiative in 2026 to create innovative early-stage funding solutions.

Memorable Quote:
"If you want to start a business, there's really... let's just call it what it is. There's really like one option and it's bootstrapping. Out in rural, you might call bootstrapping also like your friends and family round." – Brittany Romano [13:51]

On RAIN:
"The greatest experiment of 2026 is going to be launching the Rural Angel Investment Network. The acronym is RAIN and we want to see it rain on rural founders." – Brittany Romano [15:07]

4. Learning, Systems Thinking & Borrowed Solutions

[16:31–20:27]

• State Partnerships:
  Colorado’s Office of Economic Development is described as uniquely proactive in its rural mandate, with regular rural-focused programming.
• Looking Beyond Borders:
  Startup Colorado studies what emerging nations are doing to overcome infrastructure and capital limitations, drawing parallels and transferable solutions.
• Adapting Methods:
  Recognizing rural communities share problems, but context creates different experiences and requires tailored approaches.

Memorable Quote:
"What I've learned is that many of our rural communities are experiencing the same problems, but they experience them very differently." – Brittany Romano [19:33]

5. The Critical Role of Rural Entrepreneurship

[20:27–21:42]

• Entrepreneurship isn’t just a business activity in these areas—it literally keeps small towns alive and vibrant.
• Without founders and fresh businesses, community viability erodes.

Host’s Reflection:
"Communities will die without the lifeblood of businesses." – Sarah Lockwood [20:43]

Memorable Quote:
"This is not philanthropy. Rural is not philanthropy. Rural is essential, and it's essential to statewide competitiveness." – Brittany Romano [21:04]

6. How Listeners Can Get Involved

[21:42–24:18]

• Bridging Urban & Rural:
  Listeners with skills, knowledge, or interest in problem-solving can make a difference through mentorship, advising, or partnership.
• Concrete Steps:
  • Reach out to Startup Colorado to be matched with rural founders.
  • Join mentorship networks like the Bridge Entrepreneurs Network.
  • Bring resources, connections, or participate in pitch competitions and accelerator programs.

Memorable Quote:
"If you're a problem solver, we have a lot of space for you to come and share your knowledge to help us solve some of these. They're not simple, they're systems, they're complicated. But honestly, they're really fun." – Brittany Romano [22:20]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Misconception of Small Rural Businesses:
  "A lot of people think it's this hobby lifestyle company and it's not. It's overwhelming and overwhelmingly difficult."
  – Brittany Romano [04:46]

• On Capital Gaps:
  "There is one venture active venture capital firm serving all of rural Colorado. That means like 99% of venture capital stays along the i25 corridor."
  – Brittany Romano [11:08]

• On Philanthropy vs. Necessity:
  "Rural is not philanthropy. Rural is essential, and it's essential to statewide competitiveness."
  – Brittany Romano [21:04]

• On Getting Involved:
  "If you're a problem solver, we have a lot of space for you... They're not simple, they're systems, they're complicated. But honestly, they're really fun."
  – Brittany Romano [22:20]

Important Timestamps

• [00:00] Introduction to rural entrepreneurship
• [01:55] Brittany’s personal background and connection to rural business
• [06:26] Overview of Startup Colorado’s support programs
• [09:43] Unique challenges of capital access for rural founders; developing new models
• [13:51] The necessity and limits of bootstrapping for rural entrepreneurs
• [15:07] Launch of Rural Angel Investment Network (RAIN)
• [16:44] Partnerships with the state and learnings from other regions
• [20:27] The existential importance of entrepreneurship to rural vitality
• [22:13] Ways listeners can get involved; appeal for mentorship and collaboration

Conclusion

This episode is a call to recognize both the vulnerability and the extraordinary importance of rural entrepreneurship. It’s also a practical guide and open invitation for anyone—urban or rural—who wants to help bridge opportunity gaps and strengthen the economic and social fabric of rural communities. Startup Colorado’s work, as described by Brittany Romano, is about more than just supporting founders; it’s about securing the future of entire towns and regions.

To get involved, connect with Startup Colorado—they’re eager for mentors, advisors, and supporters who care about business as a force for community and systemic change.