Alex Waters isn’t your typical startup insider. He didn’t raise a mega round or exit a unicorn. But over the last 15 years, he’s built something arguably more transformative: pathways.

As Executive Director of The Program Labs and a veteran of San Diego’s entrepreneurial community, Alex helps nonprofits and ecosystems design startup programs that work—especially for overlooked and underestimated founders.

In this episode, we talk about how Alex moved from edtech founder to ecosystem architect, why access (not ambition) is the biggest startup divide, and what it really takes to build programs that empower communities instead of checking boxes.

This is a conversation about the systems behind startups, and the humans who make them work.

Here’s what’s covered:

• Why Alex left startup building to become a startup builder

• The difference between inviting founders to the table and setting a seat for them

• What makes a program truly inclusive (hint: it’s not just good intentions)

• Challenges underrepresented founders face that others often don’t see

• What the U.S. startup narrative gets wrong about failure

• Lessons from building San Diego’s first business accelerator for diverse founders

Learn more about The Program Labs and their work to make innovation infrastructure more equitable (link here).