creating a grassroots community & culture of entrepreneurship + creativity + innovation

community alchemy
laying a brick-by-brick foundation to connect and grow a successful high-growth entrepreneurial ecosystem
(Entities should focus on THREE strategies to build the social fabric)

we must TELL A STORY & Throughout the process future, not rehashing theCREATE CONVERSATIONS that share a postive vision focusing on the opportunities of the problems and limitation of the past.

(Focus on Building The Social Fabric)

youmg profs artist

Connect Resources
entrep center
national/world entrep ecosystem

Mix

Want-repreneurs to Entrepreneurs
bunch of people with ideas and resources

Funnel

(Entrepreneurial Infrastructure)
create processes to attract, retain & develop...

Build

identify

{
highlight & celebrate current and emerging entrepreneurs (help people identify as entrepreneurs & realize they are not alone)

regional entrep ecosystem

Mary

schools
ENTREP

social venue

CVB
Joe workforce dvlpmnt

promote

inspiration opportunities to try incentivize leaping mentoring & coaching incubators/accelerators

{
grow positive public opinion & desire for a high-growth entrepreneurial & creative community

economic devlpmnt
creatives

ENTREP ENTREP ENTREP ENTREP ENTREP ENTREP ENTREP

(talent)
higher education K-12 schools conferences skills training internships accelerators

(ideas)

attorney

startup

established company

City of
incubator/ tech transfer

arts

$$$

(entities & their circle of influence)

media

participate & connect

access to people & $$$

people with businesses

information sharing pitch sessions mentoring/incubators opportunity for spin-o s research parks

orange = social fabric

1 2 3 4 5

The movement must be cenetered around and driven by entrepreneurs, so first, gather the entrepreneurs & begin to connect them amongst themselves. Encourage entities to contribute resources to the movement, by building & tightening the social fabric around the entrepreneurs & amongst exisiting entities. (Social fabric, by its nature, CAN be open, non-exclusive, organic & limitless.) The social fabric must grow organically.
it can not be made bydecree

highlight existing events & experiment with new creative opportunities that mix people (both offline & online) in an attempt toengineer serendipitous connections between ideas, people and resources

(support services) (quality of life)

professional services creative services healthy legal systems angel & venture funds innovations centers technology resources coworking spaces authentic culture public transportation arts & culture distinct neighborhoods vibrant social scene green public spaces easy commutes good schools low cost of living

{
The 6 Tenets of an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
1. Culture of Risk Taking 2. Wild, Almost Naive Ambition 3. Access to Capital 4. Big Companies That Techies Can Spin Off From 5. Strong Universities 6. Vibrant Social Scenes (where serendipitous moments happen)
SOURCE: Adapted from TechCrunch senior editor Sarah Lacy's personal blog post from July 2008: The Post Gets Me in Trouble (Probably)

The effort does NOT create a new entity (no new circles), so everyone gets to keep their identity & circles of influence. Community is built over a long period of time by small FORMAL & INFORMAL groups of excited people, organized around local ideas & issues (meetups, angel funds, coworking spaces, accelerators, startups), that also build the social fabric around and amongst the entrepreneurs and the people that support them.

This model builds on the shoulders of Robert Putnam, Richard Florida, Peter Block, Sarah Lacy, Steven Johnson, Jeff Slobotski, Dusty Davidson, Silicon Prairie News, Robbie Vitrano, Chris Schultz, Idea Village NOLA, V11 Nick Seguin, Radlhauptstadt Mnchen Campaign Scott Case, The James Gang and many, many others... Created by Andy Stoll - andy@stoll.net This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0

DRAFT

send feedback and suggestions to andy@stoll.net