Fargo has a lot of reasons to thank Brad Feld.

Brad Feld is an entrepreneur, an author, and a venture capitalist with The Foundry Group. His book Startup Communities highlights how he took his community in Boulder, CO, and began building a startup community centered around the Boulder Thesis.

This laid the groundwork for what is now a movement spreading all over the world. Here in Fargo, for Emerging Prairie and others working to create a startup community, Feld’s book has served as a source of inspiration and guidance.

But as the startup scene in Fargo continues to thrive, one of the questions that comes up is: what’s next? Being a relatively small city where the closest big city is nearly four hours away, Fargo faces unique challenges.

On Sunday, we got the chance to talk to Feld at at an event in Boulder, CO. While Brad Feld’s only past experience in Fargo involved sleeping in his coat in a hotel room, he did share some advice on building rural communities.

“Build a community, and connect to the other communities that are approximate but farther away,” he said.  “And then on a regular basis do things with them. Find out ways to get connected physically. Yeah it’s a 2 hour drive – but road trip. Build these relationships, and then reinforce them virtually. When you do an event, have Google Hangouts. Start using virtual, to connect the physical.”

Speaking of connecting cities, Feld will be making a virtual appearance at Prairie Fire, a conference in Bismarck, ND this Saturday, October 24. Attendees will also get a copy of his book, Startup Communities.

So, in the spirit of Feld’s advice – road trip, anyone?

Sign up for Prairie Fire here! There are still some tickets left.

Read more of Brad Feld’s thoughts at Feld thoughts.