Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

The entrepreneurial ecosystem is comprised of a wide array of institutions and resources that contribute to the development of entrepreneurship on a local or municipal level. These components have led to the creation of clusters of entrepreneurial success and economic growth, such as Silicon Valley (Palo Alto, California) or Route 128 (Massachusetts).

Components of the Ecosystem

Accelerators and Incubators

Accelerators

An accelerator is a “fixed-term, cohort-based program including mentorship and educational components, that culminates in a public pitch event, often referred to as ‘demo-day’” (Cohen and Hochberg, 2014). The mission of an accelerator, often a non-profit entity, is to provide early stage start-ups with resources, mentorship, and networking needed to gain access to venture capital funding. On average, cohorts stay with an accelerator for 3 months cumulating with a pitch to several venture capital investors. (Fehder and Hochberg, 2014)

Incubators

Incubators “shelter vulnerable nascent businesses, allowing them to be stronger to become independent” (National Business Incubation Association). Incubators serve as a temporary space for start-ups to develop in their early stages. Unlike accelerators, there is no formal curriculum, cohorts, or duration of stay. Residents of incubators pay fees for both rent and services, and are not offered the breadth of resources found in an accelerator. (Fehder and Hochberg, 2014)

Top Seed Accelerators, 2014 (SARP)[1]

1. AngelPad (San Francisco, CA)
2. MuckerLab (Santa Monica, CA)
3. Techstars (Boulder, CO; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Seattle, WA; New York, NY; San Antonio, TX)
4. University of Chicago New Venture Challenge (Chicago, IL)
5. Alchemist (Silicon Valley)
6. StartX (Santa Clara, CA)
7. Amplify, LA (Los Angeles, CA)
8. 500 Startups (Mountain View, CA)
9. Capital Innovators (St. Louis, MO)
10. Dreamit (Philadelphia, PA; New York, NY)
11. Surge (Houston, TX)
12. MassChallenge (Boston, MA)
13. The Brandery (Cincinnati, OH)
14. Gener8tor (Milwaukee, WI; Madison, WI)
15. ZeroTo510 (Memphis, TN)
16. AlphaLab (Pittsburgh, PA)
17. Blue Startups (Honolulu, HI)
18. ERA (New York, NY)
19. Betaspring (Providence, RI)
20. The Iron Yard (Greenville, SC)

* Notable absences: Y Combinator and Rock Fund, both of which no longer identify as seed accelerators but as seed funds

Angel Investors

Angel investors are “high-net-worth-individuals that make private investments in start-up companies with their own money” (Kerr et al., 2014). Recently, angel investors have been pulling their resources together in what are classified as either angel groups or angel funds. In these groups, combined capital allows a combination of larger investments or a more diversified portfolio of investments.

Currently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission [2] regulates the domestic definition for angel investor accreditation [3], establishing a level of wealth (income or net worth) in which investors need to prove before being accredited. The Angel Capital Association [4], a collective of accredited angel investors in the United States, claims over 13,000 member investors and more than 240 accredited angel groups.

According to the University of New Hampshire's Center for Venture Capital Research[5], 2014 saw Angel Investors contributing $24.1 billion, a slight decrease from 2013 investment.

Clubs, Meet-Ups, and Community Organizations

Local initiatives to foster an entrepreneurial community, including but not limited to entrepreneurship clubs, social gatherings, and entrepreneurial related events.

Crowd Funding and Micro-finance

Crowd Funding

Crowdfunding is the practice of pooling external financing from a larger group of investors contributing small amounts of capital. In recent development, crowdfunding exists primarily in online communities, where crowdfunders receive some private benefit in lieu of an investment. (Belleflamme, Lambert, Schwienbacher, 2014)

Popular Crowdfunding Forums

• Kickstarter [6]
• Indiegogo [7]
• Rockethub [8]

Micro-Finance

Micro-finance institutions are banks that give small loans to individuals or groups with low interest rates. The clients of micro-finance institutions are often lower-income households and small business owners looking for micro-loans to expand or create a small business venture. Currently, micro lending in the developing world is significantly more prolific than in the United States or in other developed countries, due to a combination of policy and market obstacles. Though not exclusively, micro-finance institutions are often linked with non governmental organizations, social entrepreneurship, and nonprofit ventures in an attempt to stimulate economic activity and job creation in developing communities. (Sterner and Murdoch, 2001)

Entrepreneurship Education

Formal education offered on topics on or related to entrepreneurship, particularly in higher education such as MBA or undergraduate business programs.

Established Incumbent Firms

Established incumbent firms provide partnership, engage in open innovation, and act as a source for acquisition and spin-off in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Flex-space and Other Resource Providers

Flex-space providers offer a variety of services, primarily focusing on supplying workspace to early stage ventures or entrepreneurs. Some flex-space providers also offer additional resources (e.g. legal services, IT) for a fee, similar to an incubator [[9]].

Skilled Labor

Skilled labor includes individuals with advanced degrees, particularly in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, who are utilizing those skills in the work force.

Small Business Lending

Small business lending is a subset of loans offered by financial institutions specifically to small businesses. Small businesses are classified by the SBA [10] by either size (in millions of dollars) or by number of employees.

Regulatory Environment

Political institutions at the local, state, and federal level play a pivotal role in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The regulatory environment in each of the three level of governments alter the ease of entry into the entrepreneurial space by way of a variety of mechanisms. These mechanisms include tax policies, incorporation costs, barriers to entry, etc.

in progress

Research Labs

Research labs provide housing and resources for research conducted in a wide variety of disciplines. A lab’s classification is determined by the source of funding, either public (or government funded) or private. Research labs can act as part of a university setting or as an independent entity.

Serial Entrepreneurs and Successful VC-backed Firms

Serial entrepreneurs are individuals who have started multiple start-up ventures over the course of the career, regardless of the success of those ventures. Successful venture capital backed firms encompass not only the founder of those firms but also the employees who worked for the venture throughout its creation.

This is a particularly relevant aspect of the ecosystem, as individuals who have launched start-ups or have worked for succesful start-ups are more likely to engage in entrepreneurship throughout their careers.

Universities

Universities as a component of the entrepreneurial ecosystem includes not just the practice of innovation by members of the university community, but also the university's interactions with entrepreneurs, spin-outs, technology transfer offices, and other mechanisms of interaction with the entrepreneurial space.

Venture Capital

Venture capital firms provide “privately held 'entrepreneurial' firms with equity, debt, or hybrid forms of financing, often in conjunction with managerial expertise” (Amit et. al, 1998). The typical VC investment will occur during early or middle stages of the start-up process in exchange for a minority equity stake of the company, although most specialize in the investment of young entrepreneurial ventures. VC firms typically target start-ups in advanced technology sectors rather than service or low-tech businesses, and often specialize in a single vertical such as software or biotech.

A significant benefit of utilizing venture capital is access to large amounts of capital, although in exchange for a small portion of the ownership. Many start-ups need multiple waves of VC funding before developing enough to go public, or to be bought out by a larger company. The goal of a VC investment is to provide capital for a start-up to gain success in order to make a financial return, consequently VC firms place heavy scrutiny and analysis on potential investments.

in progress

Top U.S. Venture Capital Firms (from Forbes[11], by most exists since January 2014)

1. Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers
2. Bessemer Venture Partners
3. New Enterprise Associates
4. Sequoia Capital
5. Institutional Venture Partners