Welcome Delaney Keating: MFF Operations Director

From Delaney Keating: Joining Michigan Founders Fund

I’m excited to join Michigan Founders Fund as Operations Director. This marks the fourth major iteration of my work designing and building startup cultures in rural and underrepresented contexts — work rooted in the belief that ideas, people, and place are the co-creative atoms of possibility.

The founder, their startup, and their community form a reciprocal loop that continuously inform and shape one another. If we want high-growth, high-impact ventures, we must also ask ourselves what we believe is possible in and for our communities.

At the center of entrepreneurship is the opportunity to generate personal, family, and community wealth — wealth that extends beyond capital alone. That’s what excites me most about Michigan Founders Fund: its bold mission to create a cycle of giving and expand how place-based founders build legacy. As we advance each founder and raise each startup, we also shape the culture and future of Michigan.

It’s easy in this industry to say we operate with a “founder first” approach. It’s another thing to truly deliver on that. When we objectify startups, we miss the chance to accelerate both the venture and the founder. Place-based founders are a special breed — deeply intertwined with the evolution of their communities. Supporting them is high-touch work that demands collaboration, a willingness to deconstruct systemic challenges, and a mindset that looks beyond transactions toward transformation.

As someone newer to Michigan, I have the benefit of being a novel outsider — for now. I come with questions, curiosity, and a few hypotheses. My perspective is shaped by watching Colorado’s entrepreneurial landscape evolve over the past two decades — full of both hard-won lessons and cautionary tales. From launching Startup Colorado and building the first statewide rural startup network, to co-founding the Catapult Outdoor Industry Accelerator with national partners, to serving 20Fathoms in making startup education accessible in Northern Michigan — every chapter of my work has centered on people and culture. 

At my core, I identify as a designer in every sense — from shaping my living space and building operational systems to curating conversations that open our minds (ask me about Stranger Dinner Parties!). Shifting narratives about what’s possible is at the center of it all.

We go forth! 

-Delaney