Why Johnson City, TN, Is a Great Place for Entrepreneurs

Thanks to resources like FoundersForge, Johnson City entrepreneurs enjoy outstanding support in launching their ventures.

By Kevin Litwin on March 21, 2024

Greg Seaver/Visit Johnson City

David Nelson is a Johnson City businessman who, in 2020, founded an incubator called FoundersForge to help area entrepreneurs with their startup journeys. From FoundersForge’s location in downtown Johnson City, Nelson discusses his successes and why Johnson City entrepreneurs love it here. 

Tell us more about the businesses you’ve launched since your college days. 
The first was as an undergrad at Purdue University, making apps for marketing purposes, but I didn’t have a real sense of how to proceed as an entrepreneur. I went on to start five companies in VR, health care data and event ticketing. Those startups failed, but I was able to take my experiences from each of these and relaunch the very first company to be a huge success. I learned how failure can propel you to success. 

Is that why you started FoundersForge? 
Yes, I cofounded FoundersForge to help entrepreneurs get on the right track and avoid the mistakes that I had to learn the hard way. When I arrived in Johnson City, I noticed there were many high-tech, advanced business ideas here, but the entrepreneurial community wasn’t getting together. There wasn’t a strong startup community, so we decided to build one. 

What brought you to Johnson City? 
I lived in Indiana, Silicon Valley, Boulder and Raleigh, which all had good entrepreneurial setups, but I’m a whitewater kayaker who has always loved the mountains. I heard about the Johnson City area and the excellent outdoor opportunities, and my wife, Brooklyn, also found a dream job here with Ballad Health. 

How does FoundersForge help local entrepreneurs? 
We provide connections to local, state and national ESOs (entrepreneur support organizations) as well as venture firms and government support. We also provide free coaching and over 50 programs to the city. 

How are things going? 
Very well. The local entrepreneur scene consisted of about eight startups 10 years ago, and more than 70 have found success since then – mostly in the last two to three years. 

Why do you think Johnson City is an ideal place for startups? 
Johnson City is ideal because of its great quality of life and low cost of living. An entrepreneur can build a startup company anywhere, so why begin in an expensive place? Johnson City has the outdoors right in our backyard, little traffic, great schools, is family-friendly and is perfect for working at home. We are seeing some very bright and innovative startups finding success here. 

What’s one piece of advice every local entrepreneur should hear? 
Talk to your customers and get as much advice as possible. It is so important that startups solve the problems of their customers, and the only way to do this is by putting yourself in their shoes. FoundersForge is all about challenging assumptions to reach success, and the only way to do this is through actively working with your customers. FoundersForge is on a mission to be the catalyst behind all successful startups in our region, and we are here to help you every step of the way.