“Cutting Edge Perspectives on Growing Entrepreneurs &

Entrepreneurship: What are we REALLY doing (or

should be)?”

International Council of Small Business 24 June 2010; Cincinnati, Ohio

Panelists

• David Audretsch – (Ameritech Professor of Economic Development,

Indiana University)

• Monica Doss – (FastTrac; Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation)

• Cornelia Flora – (Iowa State University, North Central Rural

Development Center)

• Norris Krueger – (Entrepreneurship Northwest; Max Planck Institute of

Economics)

David Audretsch

• introduced two key concepts that have crystallized policy thinking around growing entrepreneurial economies: – (1) Entrepreneurship is about ‘knowledge spillover’ – how

does new knowledge diffuse until it finds practical application

– (2) ‘Entrepreneurial capital’ needs to be considered along with other types of capital.

– David has been active in helping devise mechanisms to promote technology commercialization as well as regional/local economic development and has mentored much of the current generation of policy-focused entrepreneurship scholars.

Monica Doss

• a key player in the continuing development of the leading entrepreneurship training program, FastTrac (www.fasttrac.org). – FastTrac is designed for maximum learning impact for

different populations; – under the auspices of the Ewing Marion Kauffman

Foundation, FastTrac is being offered to significant numbers of prospective entrepreneurs in disadvantaged areas.

– Monica has been deeply involved in both design and delivery of these programs and will share her unique insights from the field.

Cornelia Flora

• the godmother of rural entrepreneurship research. Along with Jan Flora, Cornelia proposed and tested a model of “entrepreneurial social infrastructure” that was the first comprehensive model of the entrepreneurial ecosystem at the community level. This model has been the basis of much of the state of the art practical interventions to promote entrepreneurship in rural communities.

Norris Krueger

• is best known for his work on entrepreneurial intentions and broader topics of entrepreneurial cognition. How do we learn to think like entrepreneurs? – He has recently applied cognitive developmental

psychology and constructivistic education theory (and new insights from neuroscience) to argue for why entrepreneurship’s best teaching methods are so effective and so transformative.

– He has also developed entrepreneurship programs that have won national best practice awards

– currently active in entrepreneur-led economic development.

Key Questions

• (a) what we should be doing (or not) ,

• (b) why, and

• (c) implications for policy makers and communities.

Growing an Entrepreneurial Culture means… ???

• Entrepreneurial Potential = f(Potential Entrepreneurs)

• How do Ideas become Reality?

• Human Capital (people, ideas)

• Social Capital (communities, ecosystem)

Growing an Entrepreneurial Culture

• Entrepreneurial Potential = f(Potential Entrepreneurs)

• Ideas -----> Reality

• Understanding the Ecosystem

• Human Capital (people, ideas)

• Social Capital (communities, ecosystem)

Growing an Entrepreneurial Culture

• Understanding the Ecosystem

– Ideas -----> Reality

– Intentions are NOT enough

• ICE: Innovation = Creativity + Entrepreneurship

• To get ICE we can use…

• FIRE?

FIRE Model

(human capital)

• Foster Entrepreneurial Thinking

– Role of Expert Entrepreneurial Thinking

– Immersion Experiences

• Implement Ideas

(social capital)

• Re-energize Entrepreneurial Communities

• Enhance Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

What’s New?

• Lean Startup Mania?

• Immersion Experiences

– Startup Weekend, etc.

– Boot Camps (for community?)

• Mentoring Models

– TechStars, Seedcamp, Hackfest (techstars.org)

• Follow-on Support?

• Fostering Expert Thinking