Start up-communities-23-feb-13OOO
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The document discusses key components of building a successful startup community. It emphasizes that entrepreneurs must lead the community through continuous engagement activities. A supportive ecosystem includes mentors, talent, funding, and universities providing resources, though governments and universities can also hinder progress with bureaucracy. The "Boulder Thesis" outlines principles for communities, including long-term leadership by entrepreneurs who include all participants and keep the community continuously active.
![the
Accelerator
• Began
as
a
way
for
angels
to
find
a
be7er
way
to
“manage”
deal
flow.
• Instead
of
“tossing
some
angel
money
into
a
company
and
seeing
what
happens,”
a
fund
would
be
raised
to
invest
in
a
few
startups
and
put
them
“through
an
intense
[short]
program
to
get
their
businesses
to
the
next
stage.”
• CollaboraXon
+
PerspiraXon
• Incubators
provide
space,
infrastructure,
and
advice
for
a
fee.
From
Brad
Feld,
Startup
Communi3es:
Building
an
Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
in
Your
City
Wiley:
New
York,
2012](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/start-up-communities-23-feb-13-150518204301-lva1-app6891/85/Start-up-communities-23-feb-13OOO-12-320.jpg)
Start up-communities-23-feb-13OOO
- 1. Entrepreneurs, Startups and Economic Growth Far be7er is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure . . .than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much or suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. Theodore Roosevelt G. Duchak February 2013
- 2. Principal Reference Brad Feld has been a driving force in building entrepreneurial cultures, including in his own city of Boulder, CO, since the late 1980s. He currently serves as a managing director at Foundry Group, a venture-‐ capital firm that funds early-‐stage technology companies. Start-‐Up Communi3es: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City Brad Feld
- 3. Start-‐Up Community: “An evolving Organism” Investors Mentors Government Services Universi3es Large Companies THE ENTREPRENEUR Lawyers Accountants Recruiters MarkeXng consultants Contract CFOs Professors Students Fresh ideas/ labor Research labs Entrepreneurship programs Technology Transfer Offices RegulaXon Tax policy InnovaXon policy Zoning rules Bully pulpit Out of cycle funding Teach/ Help without expectaXon of economic reward Provide convening space and resources for local start-‐ ups Create programs that encourage start-‐ups Funding From Brad Feld, Startup Communi3es: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City Wiley: New York, 2012
- 4. Successful Start-‐Up Community 9 AHributes • Leadership – Strong group of entrepreneurs commi7ed to the region • Intermediaries – many well-‐respected mentors and advisors • Network Density – cuts across sectors, demographics and cultures • Government – supporXve policies for tax, investment, development • Talent – broad, deep pool at all levels; good connecXons to universiXes as a input source • Support Services – professional (legal, accounXng, insurance, real estate, consulXng) services that are appropriately priced • Engagement – large number of events for entrepreneurs and the start-‐up community to connect (pitch days, boot camps, etc.) • Companies – large companies that are the anchor of the region should have program to cooperate with high-‐growth start-‐ups • Capital – strong, dense supporXve community of VC’s (angles, seed investors, and other forms of financing) From Brad Feld, Startup Communi3es: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City Wiley: New York, 2012
- 5. the Boulder Thesis • Entrepreneurs must lead the startup community. • The leaders must have a long-‐term commitment (~20 years). • The startup community must be inclusive of anyone who wants to parXcipate in it. • The startup community must have conXnual acXviXes that engage the enXre entrepreneurial stack. From Brad Feld, Startup Communi3es: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City Wiley: New York, 2012
- 6. the Entrepreneurs • They are the leaders; leadership is porous and earned. • They must be commi7ed to the conXnuous development of the community, regardless of economic or poliXcal cycle. • They give acXonable tasks to include anyone who wants to parXcipate; those who cannot perform fizzle out. • Forget networking events, panel discussions, or open houses; engage through hackathons, meetups, coffee clubs, and accelerators. From Brad Feld, Startup Communi3es: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City Wiley: New York, 2012
- 7. Government • Cadence of government is out of sync with long-‐term view. • There is a difference between small business and high-‐growth entrepreneurial business. • Must engage with community like everyone else (not just during government business hours). • Hierarchy can be restricXve From Brad Feld, Startup Communi3es: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City Wiley: New York, 2012
- 8. Entrepreneurs & Government: Contrasts Entrepreneurs Government Self-‐Aware NOT Self-‐Aware BoHom Up Top down Micro AHen3on Macro Focus Ac3on Proclivity Policy Proclivity Impact Control Entrepreneurs must lead the startup community. Government is not suited for its leadership. Startup communiXes take advantage of network effects: the addiXon of a member to the community enhances the value of exisXng users; government is hierarchical. From Brad Feld, Startup Communi3es: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City Wiley: New York, 2012
- 9. the University • Source of talent, research, programming, and tech transfer • Provides new perspecXves • Business School • Law School • Engineering School • Sciences (biology, physics, chemistry) School/ Departments • Hierarchy can be restricXve From Brad Feld, Startup Communi3es: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City Wiley: New York, 2012
- 10. Large Companies • Provide a convening space and resources for local startups. • Create programs to encourage startups to build companies that enhance a large company’s ecosystem. From Brad Feld, Startup Communi3es: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City Wiley: New York, 2012
- 11. Investors • Ogen seen as “gatekeepers” to the community. • Must acknowledge they are “feeders” not “leaders”; leaders must earn their posiXon through long-‐term commitment and support of community development. – Tech Stars example From Brad Feld, Startup Communi3es: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City Wiley: New York, 2012
- 12. the Accelerator • Began as a way for angels to find a be7er way to “manage” deal flow. • Instead of “tossing some angel money into a company and seeing what happens,” a fund would be raised to invest in a few startups and put them “through an intense [short] program to get their businesses to the next stage.” • CollaboraXon + PerspiraXon • Incubators provide space, infrastructure, and advice for a fee. From Brad Feld, Startup Communi3es: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City Wiley: New York, 2012
- 13. Service Providers • Support the ecosystem – Legal – AccounXng – Office space – Equipment rental • “rent before you buy”
- 14. Advisors ≠ Mentors • Advisor (economic relaXonship) • Mentor (no economic relaXonship; expects nothing) From Brad Feld, Startup Communi3es: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City Wiley: New York, 2012
- 15. the Role of Failure • The greatest thing an entrepreneur can learn is how to fail; failure is part of the process • Test ideas quickly; be agile enough to pivot quickly when ideas fail (otherwise bad ideas perpetuate). • “wakes” for failed companies/projects honor the a7empt. From Brad Feld, Startup Communi3es: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City Wiley: New York, 2012
- 16. Takeaways The idea alone is necessary but not sufficient – the economic realizaXon does not happen unXl that innovaXon is shared, adopted, and diffused into the economy. Investors Mentors Government Services Universi3es Large Companies Entrepreneurs should be proud of their work and make noise about it to the world; their community helps support those goals. THE ENTREPRENEUR
- 17. More Takeaways • Inclusive community, porous leadership • Mentorship driven • Entrepreneur lead • Not a zero-‐sum game • Fail fast (do stuff, collect data, pivot, and improve) – “do or do not, there is no try”
- 18. And One Last Thought… Knowledge • Knowledge is cumulaXve and path dependent • Tacit knowledge that individuals have cannot arXculate (M. Polanyi, 1967) • Explicit knowledge can be codified, easily transmi7ed and stored (Mokyr, 2002) • How do the a7ributes of knowledge affect the creaXon of startup communiXes?