I was deeply moved yesterday when I read Vivek Wadhwa’s post A Better Formula for Economic Growth: Connecting Smart Risk Takers. He directly dispels the theory of clusters, research parks, university tech commercialization programs and every other top-down approach to create innovation and entrepreneurship. I highly recommend you check it out.
I completely agree with this notion and started thinking about what entrepreneurship really is and how to build a striving tech eco-system in a given area.
First, lets discuss what entrepreneurship is not:
It is not a program set in place by decision makers.
It is not a building you put innovation in and commercialize.
It is not grown from public money.
It is not developed by having a bunch of venture capital available.
It is not focus on certain sectors or markets.
It is not an easy way to get rich.
It is not chaotically chasing after ideas and projects.
This is what I have come to learn entrepreneurship is:
It is a passion that drives a person to achieve unimaginable things.
It rewards those who have a vision to create things that are valuable to others.
It has to be focused, strategic and sensitive to the idea of failure.
It has to be taught and mentored to people at a grassroots level.
It has to be fostered in a culture of innovation.
It has to be supported by numerous, connected people.
It is an attitude that can be adopted by anyone in any position.
It requires talented, creative and skilled workers.
It requires investors who can skillfully manage risk and add significant non-monetary value to a company.
While some of the things on the first list can accelerator entrepreneurship they cannot be the driving force and it will not kick-start an innovative tech eco-system. First you need the culture and community.
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