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| Domains of the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem - Babson Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Project |
This week, the Minneapolis Convention Center was the
venue for two very different annual events that illustrate the power of an
ecosystem to foster entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth. On Wednesday
and Thursday, Life
Science Alley hosted Minnesota
Medtech Week – speeches, panels, an exposition, and
networking opportunities attended by “more than 5,000 business leaders, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and
suppliers, gathered under one roof to share solutions and gain valuable
insights.”
Then on Friday, WomenVenture
held its annual fund-raising luncheon celebrating women entrepreneurs. This is an organization for entrepreneurs at
the other end of the spectrum from the med tech ventures – “unbankable” female founders
of lifestyle businesses who start out with few business skills and little to no
access to capital. The stories shared
during the event are inspiring, but the really awesome thing is to look across
the ballroom at the sea of thousands of (primarily) women executives and
entrepreneurs who have gathered to support the organization’s mission.
These events publically illustrate the richness of the
Twin Cities ecosystem across the spectrum entrepreneurship and innovation. Here at MIN-Corps, we also experience the
unheralded private richness of our ecosystem.
Just a few examples:
- the amazing mentors who – having experienced success as entrepreneurs, inventors, corporate executives and/or investors – now make themselves available to advise and create connections for faculty researchers participating in the U of MN Medical Technology Value Proposition workshops and students in the STARTUP course
- the IP litigator from a major law firm who cheerfully agrees to a late-notice lecture and conversation on intellectual property with our program participants
- the graduates from our programs who regularly return to share their experiences with current participants
A
recent article in the Star Tribune recently featured an interview with the
founder of Kipsu, a fast-growing startup
that was a finalist in the high tech division of this year’s Minnesota Cup venture
competition. This is a former venture
capitalist who is choosing not to seek venture capital. In other words, you don’t need to imitate a
Silicon Valley firm to be a successful software venture.
It all comes down to what an entrepreneurship-friendly
ecosystem really is, which is what BEEP (Babson Entrepreneurship Education
Project) has been researching. About
five years ago, they published early
findings. Their first two pieces of advice: (1) Stop emulating Silicon Valley. (2) Shape the ecosystem
around local conditions. In other words,
build out from your strengths.
About a year ago, BEEP published additional
thoughts: First, entrepreneurs in all the locations they’ve studied
complain about access to talent, excessive bureaucracy, and scarce early stage capital,
so other factors must distinguish foster more or less entrepreneurship. BEEP also talks about how certain commonly
advocated factors are not necessarily indicative of a healthy environment, such
as lots of startups, coworking spaces, or (sigh) entrepreneurship education.
Wikipedia has a nice summary of what
constitutes a healthy entrepreneurship ecosystem. It:
- is tailored around its own unique environment – it does not seek to be something it isn’t, like the “next Silicon Valley”
- operates in an environment with reduced bureaucratic obstacles in which government policies support the unique needs of entrepreneurs and tolerate failed ventures
- actively encourages and invites financiers to participate in new venture
- is reinforced, not created from scratch, by government, academic or commercial organizations
- is relatively free from, or is able to change the cultural biases against failure or operating a business
- promotes successes, which in turn attract new ventures
- is supported by dialogue among various of the entrepreneurship stakeholders
So, what’s special about the Twin Cities entrepreneurship and
innovation ecosystem? It’s not great at all of the above, but there are
multiple strong elements. The Minneapolis-St Paul metro area makes a lot of top-ten US
Cities lists, and just this week came out on
top of a kind of meta-list, edging out Portland OR, Denver and Austin. Lot
of corporate national and regional headquarters and a diversified economy, which
lead to low unemployment and a softer landing if a venture fails. Reasonable cost of living, high quality of
life, parks, cultural amenities, professional sports. An educated workforce thanks to strong K-12 schools, lots of colleges, and
a top-ranked public research university in the center of the metropolitan area.
But it’s also about the soft stuff. The generosity. The friendliness. The
openness. Today, MIN-Corps participants are beneficiaries of this ecosystem that nurtures entrepreneurship and innovation. In the future, they’ll
continue to enrich it.
