Welcome to the latest roundup of news from the entrepreneurial ecosystem building field.

Who Will Save the Ecosystem Builders?

Many ecosystem builders are on the brink and ecosystem building as a field is perilously close to going off the rails if we don’t get support. If you don’t follow the Ecosystem Building Twitterverse you may have missed an important sub-current that rose to the surface the last few weeks regarding the health and sustainability of ecosystem builders.

Read more

 

New Startup Community Leader? Be Active, Not Passive

Great startup communities have a group of leaders who help activate new activities and drive meaningful engagement. Join Chris Heivly, Brad Feld, and Ian Hathaway as they take a deep dive into Active Leadership and discuss how to get started as a new startup community leader.

Listen

 

Startups as a Tool for Economic Development with Christina Oldfather

Christina Oldfather is an ecosystem builder in Lincoln, Nebraska and discusses how promoting startups can lead to economic development. After decades of work, Lincoln has been able to cultivate startups that have grown into international businesses with thousands of employees.

Watch

 

Building a Cross-Sector Regional Coalition to Strengthen Ecosystem Collaboration

The Kauffman Foundation is releasing a new series of practice briefs that share practical examples of entrepreneurial ecosystem building. This brief outlines an example of the practice of building a cross-sector regional coalition to strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystem collaboration, focusing on Forge North in Minnesota.

Read more

 

Loss (of a) leader: Startup community builder Joe Maruschak is leaving Eugene and Oregon

Portland Oregon ecosystem builder Rick Turoczy summarizes the news of fellow ecosystem builder Joe Maruschak moving on from ecosystem building due to lack of financial support. “Not a day goes by that another passionate community builder or manager doesn’t bemoan the unsustainable nature of the work. Or the misunderstanding of what the work is. Or the absolutely debilitating mental and emotional anguish of feeling like your work isn’t valued.”

Read more