Tweener Talks: Chris Heivly - A Love of Maps Kicks Off an Epic Founder Careere
Chris Hively is a geographer-turned-tech entrepreneur who co-founded MapQuest and as a second act shaped the Triangle’s startup ecosystem through mentorship, investment, and community-building.
Who is Chris Heivly?
Chris Heivly is a map-loving entrepreneur, startup whisperer, and one of the foundational architects of the Triangle's startup ecosystem. Best known as the co-founder of MapQuest, Chris helped pioneer digital navigation before most people had even heard of GPS. He’s worked everywhere from the State Department to the startup trenches, launched one of the region’s first accelerators (The Startup Factory), and spent years flying around the world with Techstars helping cities build thriving entrepreneurial communities.
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How I met Chris
Chris and I first crossed paths around 2009, when Chris had recently moved to the Triangle area and was beginning to explore how he could contribute to the growing startup ecosystem. After reading about Y Combinator and Techstars, Chris had a vision: to bring a true startup accelerator to the Triangle, one that could nurture early-stage founders from idea to launch. He started meeting with hundreds of local entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem builders. Basically, anyone who could “spell entrepreneur,” as he jokingly puts it.
One of those people was me. Our paths probably first crossed during this networking blitz, as Chris met over 275 people in five months. We didn’t immediately collaborate with each other, but stayed connected over the years. Chris saw his vision become reality with the launch of LaunchBox and The Startup Factory which had a huge impact on the startup ecosystem and many of the companies and founders that went through those programs are still building their companies or onto second and in some cases third companies. Turns out the Startup Factory was a Founder Factory.
Chris embodies the Triangle’s shared ethos of helping others, giving first, and building infrastructure that supports generations of entrepreneurs and digging into that, what I think makes the Triangle’s ecosystem so special, is what makes this podcast fun, exciting, but important as well.
Listen/Watch Our Interview:
In this Interview, you’ll hear how a map-obsessed kid from Philly ended up helping presidents interpret intelligence, pioneered online navigation with MapQuest, and eventually chose to pour his energy into building the Triangle’s startup community. Chris brings the rare combination of deep technical expertise and genuine humility. His story is packed with insight, humor, and wisdom for anyone who’s ever tried to build something from scratch.
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