Ecosystem
Modelling the world’s best.
The great startup communities were built by people, not programs. Here is what they did, and what we are taking from them.
Why it matters
Entrepreneurs do better close to other entrepreneurs.
In a strong ecosystem, advice, customers, talent and capital sit closer to home. Entrepreneurs learn faster from people a few steps ahead, and they have fewer reasons to leave when they succeed.
No single company or institution creates that. It comes from many people choosing, over many years, to show up for each other.
What makes one thrive
The Boulder Thesis.
Brad Feld, co-founder of Techstars, set out four principles in his 2012 book Startup Communities. They came from building the Boulder, Colorado community, and they are the standard we are measuring ourselves against.
Entrepreneurs lead
The community is led by entrepreneurs. Governments, universities, investors and service providers support it. They do not run it.
A long-term commitment
Leaders commit for at least twenty years. Ecosystems compound slowly, and short campaigns do not build them.
Open to anyone
Anyone who wants to take part can. Boulder's version of this became known as Give First: help others before you ask for anything.
Continual activity
There are always things happening that bring the whole entrepreneurial stack together, from first-time entrepreneurs to experienced operators and investors.
Other blueprints
No two ecosystems grew the same way.
We are not copying one city. We are learning from several, and taking what fits the Gold Coast.
Silicon Valley
Began with a handful of people who left an established company and started their own, in 1957. Equity, founder networks and reinvesting exits into the next generation then compounded for decades.
Tel Aviv
Grew from constraint. Limited resources and a strong talent pipeline pushed people to build, with government acting as an active partner in funding early companies.
Singapore
An engineered ecosystem. Policy and infrastructure were designed on purpose to attract companies and talent, which shows what intention can do when the fundamentals are right.
Boulder
A small mountain town that nobody took seriously. Entrepreneurs led, stayed for the long term and gave first, and the city became a reference point for everyone else.
What we are taking
Four things from the best.
Entrepreneurs lead. Others support and do not run it.
Give first. Help before you ask, and let success create an obligation to help the next person.
Think in decades. Ecosystems compound slowly, so we are planning for years and not for a campaign.
Keep the room full. Regular, in-person gatherings that bring first-time entrepreneurs, experienced operators and investors together.
Help us shape it
We would rather learn from you.
If you have seen an ecosystem work, or fail, in another city, we would like to hear what you saw.
Sources
- Brad Feld, Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City (2012). Principles as summarised in Quartz.