Bill Maggio, board chairman, 43North Foundation
43North Foundation was created to capitalize on the community's hard-fought momentum around technology-fueled entrepreneurship.
As the current board chairman of the 43North Foundation and chair emeritus of 43North, Bill has been intricately involved in Western New York’s entrepreneurial ecosystem since Day One. His goal is to build on the abundance of regional assets already in place to supercharge the creation of more opportunities for generations to come.
Why now?
We have a lot of young people who are aspiring to do great things, and that is something that this community has lacked. Our youth have traditionally left Buffalo and don’t come back. But, quite frankly, they’re our future. My choice is to inspire young people to want to take chances, to succeed and to fail right here in Western New York. That’s how you create a network and bench strength of great leaders in the community.
On embracing what we have…
A lot of people have tried really hard to build sustainable momentum around entrepreneurship in this community, and it’s been difficult. I think there has been somewhat of a scarcity mindset, which creates a narrow focus and impacts our ability to see all the community has to offer.
We’re not going to be successful unless we bring all the constituents together, and I think that people in this community are certainly starting to embrace that. If you look at the younger generations, they share a mindset of abundance. It’s just the way they are. So we have to capitalize on that perspective and encourage them to carry it forward.
A challenge for the next generation of leaders?
When you start to see success, you’ve got to make sure that you are always transparent and overcommunicating. This is about our community – it’s not about us. It’s not about the people who are involved. We’ve got to remember that. It’s up to us to lead with humility and with a steadfast commitment to making Buffalo a better place.
What does success look like?
We won’t be successful unless every single individual in every corner of the city knows how to engage the entrepreneurial ecosystem. If you have an idea, want to own a business or start a business, we need to make sure you know how to do that, know how to fund it and know the steps to take. Everyone in our community who is interested in entrepreneurship must have an opportunity to participate, and we have to make it easier for them to get started.
I have often said that Buffalo is in a race for relevance. At the end of the day, I want us to win that race. That starts with being proud to talk about what’s going on in Buffalo. That’s why the foundation is specifically investing in storytelling. My sense is that the people of Western New York believe that Buffalo’s best days are ahead.
