Welcome to another week’s roundup of what’s happening in the entrepreneurial ecosystem building universe. Podcasts galore is the dominant theme this week. Several new audio or and video podcasts have launched in the past few months that feature ecosystem builders as guests. This week’s roundup has new offerings from Mug.news, Startup Space, and NPR. Check out all that and more in this week’s digest.
NEW ARTICLES ON ECOSYSTEM BUILDER HUB
Avoiding Burnout and Staying Motivated
Ecosystem building work is often thankless, tiring, and even demoralizing at times. How do ecosystem builders stay motivated to keep doing the work? What specific practices do ecosystem builders use for self-care, to keep going, and avoid burning out? This was the question I put to a group of participating ecosystem builders as part of the Insights from the Field campaign. Find out what they had to say
Book Review: Creating Startup Junkies
As the field of entrepreneurial ecosystem building has started to grow over the last decade a few books dedicated exclusively to the topic have become valuable sources of information for ecosystem builders. Now there is a new book to add to the ecosystem building library — Creating Startup Junkies: Building Sustainable Venture Ecosystems in Unexpected Places by Jeff Amerine and Jeff Standridge. Read more
NEWS FROM THE FIELD
Wooing Companies to Move: Are Business Incentives Worth the Cost?
Tired of attraction-based economic development getting all of the money and attention in your community? A recently released report from the Kauffman Foundation looks at research on economic development incentives aimed at attracting companies to a region, asking the question, Are they worth it?
Podcast: Breaking Down Barriers: Anika Horn
The latest Breaking Down Barriers Podcast episode connected with Anika Horn, founder of Social Venturers to get her experienced take on ecosystem building and what sets an ecosystem builder apart. She talks #storytelling and we get a preview of her work with Zebras Unite, a movement to build the next economy where entrepreneurship serves everyone.
The Inclusivity Project: Addressing Institutional and Systemic Barriers to Black Entrepreneurship: Building Black Owned Businesses
The Northern California SBDC is launching a new project to connect 1,000 Black entrepreneurs and Black-owned small businesses in underserved and socially disadvantaged communities with lifetime business mentorship and $100 Million dollars in capital to start their very first business or take their existing business to the next level. Is this something that other regional SBDC’s can also launch?
Virtual Community Building with gener8tor’s Charmyse Tillman & Patty Newby
Charmyse Tillman and Patty Newby are organizing the upcoming Community Growth Summit by gener8tor. They join the Mug.news show to discuss the gener8tor programs which help build ecosystems across the country and unpack how that approach has shifted in a pandemic.
Podcast – NPR’s Tech Nation Interviews Right to Start Founder
NPR host Moira Gunn talks with Victor Hwang, founder of Right to Start, about how to expand entrepreneurial opportunity and build successful ecosystems, including what he learned from his experiences in Silicon Valley.
How ‘scale-up’ Business Became the Engine Of Job Creation
An article in the Financial Times argues that startups and especially scale-ups will be crucial in the pandemic economic recovery.
Georgia Sets Example with Pilot to Expand Ecosystem Building
The Partnership for Inclusive Innovation has announced its first funded pilot program, theClubhou.se: Mesh Network. This organization aims to empower entrepreneurs and provide resources to create new businesses in traditionally under-resourced communities. The pilot was competitively selected and will receive $250,000 to expand its existing efforts in Augusta, Ga., to four other Georgia cities.
Podcast: Breaking Down Barriers: Troy Vosseller
The Startup Space podcast discusses ecosystem builders and breaking down barriers with Troy Vosseller, Co-Founder of gener8tor. gener8tor operates more than 45 accelerators annually across North America, working with more than 200 startups per year.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Building Tech Ecosystems in a Distributed World
A new event on building global tech ecosystems. Dealroom and Sifted will host leading VCs and ecosystem builders to discuss: Tech and governments’ role in navigating a “K-shaped” recovery; The rise of tier-2 ecosystems and distributed talent; A new dawn of tech optimism, or: David vs. Goliath in the age of Deep Tech
Date: February 24, 7:00 am – 10:00 am PST
In Community~ A Gathering for Ecosystem Building Womyn
EcosystemsUnite is creating space for Womyn ecosystem builders to share knowledge. The goal is to leave with more knowledge than when we came and make good connections.
Date: February 24, 3:00 – 4:00 PST
CommUNITY Growth Summit
gener8tor CommUNITY Growth Summit presents America’s next generation of leaders in startups, the arts and workforce development. gener8tor CommUNITY Growth Summit offers leaders in each of these areas a day of keynotes and presentations focused on the next generation of solutions.
Date: March 30 – April 1
Virtual Skoll World Forum
Through an inspiring program of plenaries and sessions, we’ll use this moment of virtual convening to examine the unequal impact of the global pandemic and the innovative solutions that aim to build a better future for all. In the spirit of collaboration, many sessions will be curated directly from the social innovation community.
Dates: April 13 – 15
RuralRISE Broadband Mini-Summit
For rural communities, access to stable and affordable broadband and wireless connectivity continues to be a challenge. Join fellow rural ecosystem builders in the conversation about rural broadband during the 2021 RuralRISE Mini-Summit.
Date: April 15, 2:00 – 5:00 pm Eastern
InBIA Annual Conference
For 35 years, InBIA’s annual conference – the International Conference on Business Incubation (ICBI) – has been the primary venue for incubation and other entrepreneurial support professionals to share best practices, proven strategies, effective tools and relevant insights with an audience of peers.
Dates: April 26 – 30
RuralRISE Summit 2021
Mark your calendars for the 2021 RuralRISE Summit in Emporia, Kansas!
Dates: September 20 – 21
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