If you, your company or organization has been involved in the startup or entrepreneurial world in Fort Worth in the past decade, you’ve probably crossed paths with Hayden Blackburn. 

For much of that time, Blackburn has been working behind and in front of the scenes in the world of startups and technology. He spent nearly eight years as leader of TechFW, the incubator and accelerator program that helps connect entrepreneurs to resources, funding, education and people. 

A graduate of Texas Tech University, Blackburn started his professional career in the field of economic development working in business recruitment and retention. He was the founding director of IDEA Works FW, a mixed-industry incubator formed from a public-private partnership with the city of Fort Worth. 

He led that organization for three years, then joined TechFW. He left there in early September, a departure that was planned as the organization works to expand its reach. 

Blackburn stepped aside as chief operating officer at TechFW after shepherding the organization through a plan to grow its capabilities. That involved hiring its first CEO, Ryan Brown, in March.

“The whole plan has been to build greater capacity so, with my full support, we said, ‘Let’s reimagine the leadership structure to do that.’ And I knew that wasn’t going to be me,” Blackburn said. 

Brown has extensive experience as an entrepreneur in various industries, including aerospace and defense, and has led company growth and executive leadership within real estate, finance, nonprofits and events. He helped transform the Earth Day Texas event into the global EarthX initiative. 

As Brown came on board, Blackburn stayed on as chief operations officer and to help the new CEO learn the ins and outs of the organization. 

“Organizations evolve,” Blackburn said. “Tech Fort Worth is ready for the new leadership to take the full reins and drive that new vision.” 

Blackburn said he is proud of all that has been accomplished at TechFW over the past decade. 

“What stands out to me when I look at the entire time I was leading the organization as executive director was during the pandemic and quickly adapted to virtual service delivery,” he said. The organization shut very few activities down, taking many virtual and grew the number of companies they supported. 

“I think that really set a high bar for … continuing to evolve how the services were delivered, and unlocking the notion that innovation — while it thrives better whenever you’ve got close proximity — people will adapt. And you can still find pathways for the connections to be made, if you’ve got the super connectors and people driven to do that,” he said. 

He said he is also proud of the work he did with Cowtown Angels, the early state investment network that connects local investors with entrepreneurs. Cowtown Angels has had some big successes, such as ZS Pharma and Encore Vision, but Blackburn said he is equally proud of helping connect all the entrepreneurs involved in the investment network. 

“Over those seven-plus years, we’ve touched and coached and moments with thousands of entrepreneurs, not just the hundreds here in Fort Worth, but hundreds more from across the country and we made calls to everybody and gave feedback,” he said. “Continuous learning was part of the journey.” 

“I believe it is helping build a strong biotech and overall entrepreneurial ecosystem in Fort Worth today and into the future,” he said. 

Now Blackburn is taking some time to do some exploration and listening before looking at what to do next. For one thing, he and his wife are having their first child. 

“I’ve got a lot of awareness about the changing landscape within innovation and entrepreneurship, not just in Fort Worth, but across the region and across the state, so I’m not going to rush into one definitive thing out of the gate,” he said. 

Blackburn said he believes he has a unique combination of skills, expertise and experience to help further develop the innovation ecosystem here. 

“It’s really starting to take shape, with major players coming in and there are also a lot of stories on the small scale that still haven’t been told,” he said. “There’s plenty of opportunity here.” 

Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org. 

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