SCN Las Vegas 2025

The interactive session is designed to equip ecosystem builders with the foundational tools to strengthen and measure the success of your ecosystem. We’ll start by ensuring every ecosystem in the room has clarity on mission, vision, and metrics—because you can’t build what you can’t define. From there, we’ll map out the essential elements of a strong ecosystem:

• Startups & Founders – The heartbeat of any ecosystem
• Knowledgeable Community – The support network that fuels growth
• Financial Elements – Funding, investment, and sustainability
• Structure – Spaces, talent, and policy that shape success
• Connecting Activities – The glue that brings it all together

Through interactive exercises and collaborative discussions, you’ll uncover how to measure and enhance each element, leading to real-time insights and idea-sharing across ecosystems. Finally, we’ll dive into storytelling strategies to effectively communicate what’s happening in your ecosystem and inspire action.

This session has limited spots! Please indicate whether you would like to attend, or do the alternative ecosystem tours when you purchase your summit ticket.

What does it mean to build a legacy in a state as diverse as Nevada? This conversation, hosted by Shawna Wells of 7Gen Legacy, explores how cultural identity, historical context, and intergenerational thinking shape the way we invest in the future. Panelists will share how their work in economic development, education, and community empowerment is rooted in legacy-building—intentionally creating the conditions for the next generation to thrive.
Together, we’ll examine the intersection of personal purpose and collective progress, asking: How do we ensure our systems, institutions, and initiatives reflect the richness of Nevada’s people? And how can we make legacy-building not just a personal mission, but a shared strategy for regional success?
This session invites placebuilders, community leaders, and ecosystem builders to reflect on their own role in shaping a more inclusive and enduring vision for Nevada’s entrepreneurial and civic future.

Small business owners and founders across Nevada often ask the same question: Where do I go to find the support I need to grow? The answer is here.
Join us for a dynamic resource panel unveiling the Nevada Business Hub powered by EcoMap—a brand new digital platform designed to make navigating Nevada’s business ecosystems easier, smarter, and more accessible. This session will dive into how the platform works, what resources it connects to, and how it’s being built in collaboration with ecosystem leaders to serve entrepreneurs statewide.
Panelists from EDAWN, Nevada SBDC, Make Startups, and EcoMap will share insights into the challenges founders face when seeking support, what it takes to map a diverse and decentralized ecosystem, and how this hub is streamlining connections to capital, mentorship, space, services, and more.

As a staple of every Startup Champions Network Summit, our closing circle brings us together one last time to reflect, connect, and celebrate the momentum we’ve built. This interactive session invites attendees to share lessons learned, surprising insights, favorite moments, and how they plan to take action in their own communities. Whether this was your first summit or your tenth, this is your space to speak, listen, and leave inspired. Let’s close out SCN Las Vegas the way we always do—together, with intention and community at the center.

We’re ending the Startup Champions Network Summit with a bang—literally. Join us for the Closing Party at Downtown Container Park, the visionary outdoor venue created by the late entrepreneur and Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. A symbol of creativity, community, and bold reinvention, the park perfectly embodies the spirit of ecosystem builders.
As we reflect on the connections made and ideas sparked throughout the Summit, we’ll celebrate together under the desert sky with drinks, music, and an unforgettable fire show. That’s right—the evening will be lit (again, literally) by a flame-shooting metal sculpture straight out of Burning Man, one of Tony’s favorite symbols of expression and experimentation.
Come raise a glass, swap stories, and send off SCN Las Vegas the only way we know how—with community, creativity, and just a little bit of fire.