Being a founder is often a lonely journey—my co-founder and I felt it firsthand building Iconic Air in West Virginia over the last five years. We didn’t know how to evaluate our first term sheet, let someone go, or even build production-ready software.

What got us through were candid conversations with founders and operators who’d been there before. Those experiences inspired Beacon: a community where West Virginia founders can share hard-won lessons, find their people, and ensure no one has to build alone.