Ecosystems for innovative firms and entrepreneurs: Why they matter

Developing entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems matters to regenerate our economies. But too few civic and political leaders know why this step is so important. What’s worse, they don’t know how to start. 

In the absence of any system-level insights, they tend to fixate on standalone projects, not collaborative strategies. 

The graphic below addresses the first obstacle: Explaining why entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems drive the prosperity of a community or region.

(An entrepreneurial ecosystem focuses on start-up companies; an innovation ecosystem supports existing companies to accelerate innovation. The two are different, but they overlap.)

We’ll be launching an online course in August to address the second obstacle: explaining how civic leaders can develop a vibrant ecosystem with a balanced portfolio of collaborative investments.