TCIOceania16 Fostering Innovation, Ecosystems and Entrepreneurship

Fostering Innovation, Ecosystems and Entrepreneurship

Allan O’Connor

3rd TCI Oceania Cluster Conference, Adelaide, 1-3 June 2016 "Driving (Regional) Competitiveness through Innovative Clusters to Bolster National Prosperity"

Fostering Innovation, Ecosystems and Entrepreneurship

Allan O’Connor

Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation and Innovation Centre

Overview• How do clusters and entrepreneurship link?• What is an entrepreneurial ecosystem?• The Adelaide Case• The Research

• Acknowledgements– Department of State Development– Adelaide City Council; Paul Daly– Co-researcher; Gerard Reed

Clusters and Entrepreneurship: Different lenses, common issues

With permissionThank you Christian Ketels

4 Copyright 2015 © Christian Ketels

Clusters and Economic Performance

Prosperity Entrepreneurship Structural Change

• Wages• Productivity• Job growth• Resilience• Patenting

• New business formation

• Survival of new firms• Job growth in new

firms

• Path of structural change(emergence of new clusters)

Presence of Strong Clusters


Entrepreneurship: The Innovation School of Thought

• Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950)– An entrepreneur introduces innovation– Disrupts market equilibrium– An entrepreneur creates demand– Is responsible for ‘creative destruction’

6 Copyright 2015 © Christian Ketels

Putting Clusters into Context

(Creative) Skills

ComplexitySocial Capital

Innovation Systems

Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

Framework Conditions

Clusters

Urbanization


The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (2016)

University of Adelaide 7

What is an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem?


A Comprehensive Definition• ‘a set of interconnected entrepreneurial actors

(both potential and existing), entrepreneurial organisations (e.g. firms, venture capitalists, business angels, banks), institutions (universities, public sector agencies, financial bodies) and entrepreneurial processes (e.g. the business birth rate, numbers of high growth firms, levels of ‘blockbuster entrepreneurship’, number of serial entrepreneurs, degree of sell-out mentality within firms and levels of entrepreneurial ambition) which formally and informally coalesce to connect, mediate and govern the performance within the local entrepreneurial environment’(Mason & Brown 2014)



Performances…• To improve socioeconomic performances

– Greater employment– Better wealth distribution– Reduce cost of living– Higher living standards

• To improve market efficiency performance– Product/service distribution– Reduce transaction costs (supply and demand side)

• To increase industry effectiveness performance– Benefits of co-location– Greater innovation and technology advances

• To facilitate greater private investment in growth economies– More start-ups– Greater business capital investment


Some issues with defining an entrepreneurial ecosystem


What do you see?


• Everyone will see their ecosystem differently!

The beauty and the crone

Biological ecosystems differ to social ecosystems

• Human/social systems differ to (eco)systems of nature due to foresight/intentionality, communication and technology (Holling 2001)

• Intent to intervene in a ecosystem runs counter to the concept of a biological ecosystem where there is no elected or non-elected governance in nature



Ecosystems are unique to place• The policies, practices and inherent activities of one

‘ecosystem’ should not be expected to be easily or readily supplanted into another ‘ecosystem’



Layers of participant influence on outputs


Venture Exits

Venture Growth

Venture Survival

Venture Start-up

Nascent entrepreneurs and opportunities

Decreasing Number

Many

Few


Geographic association with layers of influence


Venture Exits

Venture Growth

Venture Survival

Venture Start-up

Nascent entrepreneurs

and opportunities

Increasing dispersion

Local

Global


Ecosystems can be curated and designed• The frame of regional (eco)system governance is to

cultivate the seeds of entrepreneurship and innovation that can adapt to the local conditions



Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: What does it comprise?


People

Entrepreneurial Process

Supportive entrepreneurship infrastructure (regional resources including social and professional networks)

New Venture

CulturePolicy Support Programs

Human Capital

Finance Markets

Nascent entrepreneurs

Start-up Survival Growth Exit

Role models

The Case of Adelaide’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem


Entrepreneurial Adelaide• ‘… how do you keep track of it?’ – Dec. 2012• 4th January 2013 Meeting – (InnovyzSTART function)• Post-it-notes• 4 categories • Yellow = educational programs• Pink = network programs• Blue = incubators• Green = government support programs


Adelaide Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (AEE)

• Mapping exercise first iteration • Lack of a device indicative of an ecosystem• Adelaide City Council support• 25th June 2013 Forum Convention Centre• 3rd Sept 2013 Public Forum Adelaide Town Hall• Momentum Fund Grant The University of Adelaide 2014• Follow-on grant from the SA Department of State

Development


Adelaide Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Map



Eight Categories1. Network and Start-up Events2. Formal Education3. Industry Education4. Co-working Spaces5. Incubators and Accelerators6. Advisory Services7. Government Assistance8. Investors


The Research


Some Demographics


No. of participants 43

Avg age (yrs) 43.8

Avg age of venture (yrs) 8.0

GENDER Male 24

Female 19

Stage of businessNo in PS 5

ST 7SU 5GR 20EX 3

NOT IND 3Check sum 43

Education Uni 37

Vocat 6

Avg yrswork exp IND 42 22.5

NOT IND 1

Management ExpeYes 37No 1

NOT IND 5

Prior ExperienceNo. in Private Sector 25

Public Sector 9Self-employment 7Unemployed 0Parenting 0Student 2Other 0NOT IND 0Check sum 43

Prior Entrepreneurial ExpYes 17

Avg yrs 6.3


Profile of business sectors• Service sector bias

– Education and training,– Business services,– Web or application development,– Social media,– Advertising and/or marketing,– Human resources,– Health care,– Property services or similar.

• Three businesses with more complex value chains?– Construction, publishing and manufacturing sectors.



Characteristics perceived of entrepreneurs and their endeavours


Differentiating entrepreneurship →

Opportunity centric enterprise → Entrepreneur attributes

Business founder (commercial or social)

ORIntrapreneur

• Growth oriented (but inclined more toward organic growth)

• Generating employment and contributing to social good

• Disruptive (technology and/or business model)

• Propensity for risk• Making money (for profit or non-

profit surplus)• Original ideas• Innovative• Creative problem solvers• Visionary, flexible, ambitious and

agile• Determined and persistent• Enjoy challenge• Passionate• Confident in self & idea• Networker• Leader• Team player• Adaptive• Responsive• Action focused


Industry: Help or Hinder?• Two Views:

– The more innovative ventures at odds with established industry structures (Radical innovation)

– Industry could be helpful for certain ventures (Incremental innovation or differentiation)

• Early stage business start-up and survival support (such as grants and relevant training) not generally available within established industry structures

• Mixing with established industry players led to network development, ideas for start-up, learning and knowledge

• IMPORTANTLY: Being part of a community was an important ingredient to supporting new ideas and businesses that were innovative and/or disruptive




0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Start-up Survival Growth Exit

Networking and Start-upEventsFormal Education

Industry Education

Co-working

Incubators andAcceleratorsAdvisory Services

Government Assistance

Investors

Entrepreneurial-Ecosystem (Total 274 items)


The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Emergence Model



A Proposed Evaluation Model• Relevance: The AEE needs to be designed to respond to different

types of opportunities. The types of opportunities have particular needs for support.

• Accessibility: Regardless of the type of support service to the entrepreneur, the service must be both visible and accessible.

• Strength: Once the support service of the ecosystem is located, the service provision must be strong in its capability to service the needs of the entrepreneur.

• Continuity: As a venture evolves, a strong ecosystem will have a continuity of relevance, accessibility and strength as the needs of the venture change through different periods of development.

• Economically and Socially Responsive: A strong ecosystem will develop the socioeconomic strengths of a particular region, will not harm or undermine the socioeconomic status of a region and will address the shortcomings and opportunities of a socioeconomic system to provide for future changes in economic structure.



Some Specific Recommendations• Survey entrepreneurial awareness programs• Introduce entrepreneurship education during the

secondary and university education years• Consider for immediate and special attention.

– A pathway for higher cost start-ups to have visibility of and accessibility to low cost seed funds, and

• Increase collaboration and cooperation both across and within the public and private sectors to prioritise resolutions to issues that slow entrepreneurship

• Develop an entrepreneurial ecosystem measurement methodology



Conclusion• Majority profile of service-oriented businesses

– Consider the trading pattern of firms; locally traded versus inter-regional, interstate or international.

• South Australian entrepreneurship characterised by type of opportunity– (organic) growth oriented disruptive ventures, providing

employment opportunities, contributing to the social betterment of South Australia

• Being part of a community that supports new ideas, businesses, and the entrepreneur themselves– An emotionally and progressive supportive community was

thought to be as important as other forms of support.



South Australia’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: Voice of the Customer Research Report

• The link to the report is: http://ecic.adelaide.edu.au/docs/ecosystem-research-project-13-08-2015.pdf


http://ecic.adelaide.edu.au/docs/ecosystem-research-project-13-08-2015.pdf


Integrating Innovation:South Australian Entrepreneurship Systems and Strategies• Now published and free on web• https://www.adelaide.edu.au/p

ress/titles/integrating-innovation/


https://www.adelaide.edu.au/press/titles/integrating-innovation/


Thank you!

Allan O'Connor

Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation and Innovation CentreUniversity of Adelaide, AUSTRALIA 5005Ph : +61 8 8313 0188

e-mail: [email protected]: http://www.ecic.adelaide.edu.au/

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ecic.adelaide.edu.au/

TCIOceania16 Fostering Innovation, Ecosystems and Entrepreneurship

Economy & Finance

Transcript of TCIOceania16 Fostering Innovation, Ecosystems and Entrepreneurship