Entrepreneurship!

New blog location!

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Wed, 27 May 2015 16:28:00 +0000

For future posts, please check out... https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/8473538

WHAT SHOULD NORRIS DO?*

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 03:41:00 +0000

WHAT SHOULD NORRIS DO?*

* What *Would* Norris Do (WWND) would seem, oh, a wee bit narcissistic? ;)

a/k/a: “I Was Wrong, Friday the 13^th Edition?” #BoiseIsRising?

Monday evening saw a great event, a joint extravaganza where Startup Grind Boise brought Scott Kupor (coo of VC goliath Andreesen Horowitz to the grand opening of Boise’s new collaborative space, Trailhead. I love ‘em both and together… just wow!

You might have been amused by all the people who took credit for Kupor and all those trying to impress him but this was not a night for the usual internecine squabbling… Look. At. The. Audience.

No idea what the count was but it was the biggest turnout ever for Grid. But forget that. The quality was staggering. I was exhausted by the time Grind’s Jessica Whiting introduced Scott… just from saying hello to all the good people who showed up. Even met a few great new faces like CDA’s Nick Smoot of Innovation Collective (who now owes me beers!)

On the heels of the INL/CAES/ITC Energy Connected symposium and with develop.idaho arriving next month (not to mention the revival of ITC’s R&D/Tech Commercialization committee – wish me luck! Haven’t been fired yet, lol) Seriously… it’s hard not to feel encouraged, especially after what Trailhead honchos Faisal Shah & Karen Meyer told me (sorry, not yet).

With the quantity and quality of attendance so high… it was intriguing that 4 or 5 people (even strangers) wondered openly about those who were NOT there. Definitely the ‘top down’ types were in short supply[1]. It’s Brad Feld’s first rule of startup communities – entrepreneur-driven, relentlessly bottom up. Grind and Trailhead are exactly that.

But here’s why Norris Was Wrong… Again™ - it was a gorgeous warm, sunny day, the kind of day where all too often Idahoans decide to go enjoy the outdoors – or decide they needed to do something ‘family’ or…whatever. I’ve been to too many under-attended events simply because people had better things to do. (Yes, your kid’s lacrosse practice is important. But in happening communities, people find ways to do both. Maybe Monday night we saw signs that we are figuring it out.) So, thanks Boise for proving me wrong![2]

Ah, but what about Scott Kupor do you ask? He went out of his way to deliver a positive, optimistic message. He focused on Idaho’s positives (though it was clear he’d seen it all). He urged us to read more but also to do more.

The line of the night was Scott quoting his boss, Marc Andreesen, who when asked how innovative Andreesen-Horowitz was as a VC firm, he wondered if “we are the most evolved…. dinosaur.” Think about that for a bit.

Scott also made it clear that Boise was now on their radar and hinted that maybe they could be helpful (beyond just showering us with money at really good valuations, lol). Scott, if you read this… I have a wishlist for you. (Yes, you do need an office/spy here but that’s not what I’m talking about…)

Let me get back to what Faisal Shah and Karen Meyer both told me – complete with intent gaze and outstretched finger pointing at me – “Help. Boise.”

Rather than making excuses, I agreed and meetings are happening. [Possibly with more “gentle nudges” upside my head?]

So back to the title... What Should Norris Do? (to help Boise/Idaho)

And if I can be narcissistic and ask “WWND?”… here is MY action agenda.

Better LATE than Never?

#1… uh, wait! Full stop. Let’s reach out and Ask The Entrepreneurs. There is nobody in Idaho has a better idea of exactly what Idaho’s entrepreneurs need to rocket forward, nobody even close, and MY #1 agenda item is to say… Let’s. Ask. The. Entrepreneurs. (LATE)

So, the real #1…. Listening sessions. They’ve worked all over the world. We know how to do them brilliantly. And… they have even worked before in….. Idaho!

Google Maps! Combine those with world-class mapping of the entrepreneurial ecosystem (#2) and we know where we are AND where the entrepreneurs want to go. Something else we know how to do. Brilliantly. But haven’t. And in the meantime…

Startup Grind in 1 year has brought in more people who can actually help us than most groups have done in forever. (#3) Let’s bring the world’s Best and Brightest here. Listen to them. Hear what they really say. Ask the entrepreneurs what they think. And ACT on it. I know lots of amazing people – tell me who you want!

[Scott K – if you’re still reading… A16Z could help us with all of these ;) ]

There’s more but I’ll save those for the next post.[3]

So… What Would Norris Do… needs to become What SHOULD Norris Do?

So… TELL ME!!!!!! I can’t listen to you unless you tell me! ;)

Entrepreneur Up, Y’all!

(and Happy Friday the 13th AND Happy Pi Day! 3/14/15!

[1] However, I won’t name names… I always believe that it’s better to celebrate what you have rather than bemoan what you don’t. This principle also is key to developing entrepreneurial ecosystems, any local economy.

[2] Again, admittedly not a high bar ;)

[3] But think “youth entrepreneurship” and “Assemble the Avengers!”

Sometimes, virtue DOES triumph?

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Sat, 28 Feb 2015 23:16:00 +0000

I Was Wrong: Sometimes, virtue DOES triumph?

A string of good news items to share – with more to come! (The bad news being that I might be blogging more?)

Maybe THE single best tech commercialization program I have ever seen just got $26 million to grow.

http://www.chalmersinnovation.com/blog/chalmers-make-historic-investment-in-entrepreneurship/ here's their recipe:

True experiential learning

+ the right deep engagement with the entrepreneurial community

+ exactly the right people running the show

= the most productive program for bringing local ideas into profitable reality.

I’d be happy to go into more detail on what they do, just ask!

The not-really-secret sauce is in that formula above –and that’s why it is so hard to replicate. Most programs claim to be “deeply experiential” and focusing on growing the “entrepreneurial mindset” and might even believe it . But they don’t. They rarely have the right processes and having the right people is even rarer. (And it is very, very difficult to replace the wrong people in bureaucratic entities, eh?)

Time to defrag... Idaho?

The Idaho Tech Council Energy Connected symposium is next week – should be fun. Lots of energy-related mad science stuff and it appears that the ITC Marketing Committee did persuade TPTB that Ignite/pecha kucha 5 minute presentations are a good thing!

Except that they foolishly accepted my proposal? "Growing Defragging Idaho's Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in 1, 2, 3, 4 Easy Steps?"

See my slides at http://bit.ly/NKpres

If you are an Idahoan… are you interested in a major defragging of Idaho’s ecosystem? Inquire at norris.krueger[at]gmail.com

National/Global Good News?

Ecosystems! April 30 = the very first Global Summit on Entrepreneurial Ecosystems hosted by US SourceLink and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. I am deeply involved and what fun! Strong practitioner focus but THE leading thought leaders are being invited. Apparently, they see me as THE guy at that intersection. Humbling. Energizing but humbling. (and, no, they declined my idea to hold it in Idaho, lol)

[ For Idahoans – every one of these experts is on record as wanting to help us. ]

no good deed goes unpunished?…

I am now an officer of the Academy of Management Entrepreneurship Division – working with the Communications team to help build some sort of portal to collect and curate resources so members can better help their local entrepreneurial communities. (Probably first up will be around ecosystems. Soon after, best practices at improving entrepreneurial education[1]

Promoting cross-state collaboration?

However, this has opened a door to getting financial and political support to bring together, for example, the top 10 scholars on entrepreneurship/innovation in an area like the Intermountain West! If it includes mostly EPSCoR[2] states there is even more money.

Imagine the 10 thought leaders from ID, WY, MT, and UT (well, mostly Utah , lol) getting together to identify projects that matter for research AND practice AND education…

AND imagine it being held in Idaho!

Tech commercialization?

Looping back to my buddies at Chalmers, there is also national (if not global) interest in bringing together the very best programs. The top programs ALL resemble Chalmers far more than even the better entrepreneurship programs. (They also resemble the best non-academic programs like TechStars, Startup Weekend, etc.) This too could get held in Idaho.

Certainly, not a bad set of news to get? I am happy to share the bad news – psycho politics and bureaucratic stupidity never sleep, alas…

But I need to make 2015 a year of deep renewal for me.

Will YOU help?

At least by lighting fires under me?

[1] that one is easy: “Go get a degree in education.” But unlikely to be popular? ;)

[2] EPSCoR is a program that routes funding, etc. to the R&D “have-not” states like ID, MT, WY…

I WAS WRONG!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 08:44:00 +0000

I WAS WRONG!!!!

Often.

But that's how we learn. That's how we get truly better.

... people who are never wrong [just ask them ;) ]... scare me.)

From now on every blog post will include my latest numbskullery.

Let's start with... I was wrong to not post more often. And not a traditional web page? I really need your thoughts on that.

but occasionally... I am right! ;)

My latest trip was over to the U of Minnesota for the midwinter board meeting of the Academy of Management's Entrepreneurship Division. Time to plan for the year ahead such as the giant conference in August in Vancouver (~15,000 of my closest friends? Yikes!)

I'm excited for the conference - more on that later...

But, Norris, weren't you going to tell us where are you RIGHT?

OK, take a few minutes and read this. Look closely at the figures. (I'll wait.) http://www.gallup.com/poll/168848/life-college-matters-life-college.aspx

.....like the 96% of university officials think they are doing a good job of preparing students for the real world, only 11% of businesses. Oops. When Gallup Education's Brandon Busteed shared that in Boise this week, the gasps were audible.

What matters to keep students engaged AND productively learning AND ready for the future is... getting to achieve in projects that matter, real world, team-oriented, etc. Whether K-12 or college... that's what moves the needle. I was right about that! ;)

And what does that better than anything?

The best entrepreneurship programs: Personally-relevant, practically valuable problem-based learning.

Not quizzes, homework, multiple-choice tests, or even in-class lectures. My best colleagues are doing that - and in November the OECD assembled 26 incredible K-12 programs. If this approach works with 3rd graders.... Just wow.

Conclusion #1: We need youth entrepreneurship programs broad & deep in our schools.

Caveat #1: This won't work - none of these "engagement" projects work unless it is (a) experiential -- learners need to take away the right lessons, so (b) you need actual educators, people who are trained in how people really learn [see, I came back!] and how to make that work. IOW, professional educators. Accept no substitutes.

Way too many entrepreneurship programs, even at good schools, that claim to be experiential… simply are NOT experiential. Hands-on is NOT the same thing. If a program tells you "we are building the entrepreneurial mindset" and we are "experiential"... the odds are... they are NOT. (Read my stuff or watch my video or tell me to blog on that soon.)

Here's what I did: http://bit.ly/TEAMSovw - the students won national best practice awards (they won, not me)

Conclusion #2: Demand that programs are designed, developed and delivered by actual expert educators. Demand that students are truly engaged.

Caveat #2: Administrators don't like these engagement activities; say it's not "teaching" and... ouch. For example, I've had friends do courses that *I* would love to take... and they got penalized by the deans. Seriously? Worse, it goes on everywhere.

If you liked the Gallup study, here are two more riffs on that work. http://www.fastcompany.com/3028385/leadership-now/how-teachers-and-mentors-will-save-entrepreneurship-in-america and http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/174275/education-economy-america-next-big-thing.aspx (And thanks to the ED Sessions for bringing Busteed to town, to the JK Albertson Foundation for backing it...)

BONUS LINK! Add STEM to early childhood ed: http://businessclimate.com/blog/2015/02/early-childhood-education-heavy-stem-key-spurring-economic-growth-report-says/

If you are still reading, will you email or message me that you did? A martini or coke awaits at least one of you. :)

And, yes, in my next post I will give you details about my submissions to the Academy of Management...

NORRIS IS A…. SLACKER!

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 01:40:00 +0000

For those of you who know me, I have been busy – conferences and projects and now teaching for 2 weeks in Athens! (It is a very promising new entrepreneurship program – can’t wait to share that with you. )

I’m busy but am I… productive? I’m not so sure.

More to the point, am I making money? ;)

So time for a bold experiment!

I need to do a lot more to help communities grow entrepreneurs;

I need to do a lot more to help create world-class entrepreneurial learning;

I need to do a lot more to help organizations be more entrepreneurial.

So…

HIRE ME!!!! ;)

As the old joke goes, I may not be cheap but I am easy. That is, I bring value and always over-deliver no matter what the assignment; I am never a snob when it comes to helping people.

OR PUT ME ON RETAINER?

That is, if you think there is any way that I can bring value to you, your organization or your community, you can get Norris at a significant discount if you invest in a retainer.¹

So… how can I help your community? How can I help your organization? How can I help…. You?

At your service! /Norris

^{1.
yeah, you caught me… I’m raising money for a new (stealth) project.}

Ok, back to your regularly-scheduled blog…

Some Things I’ve Learned in My Travels

Nobody is all that great at growing entrepreneurs but the best places all try to get better like crazy, seek out great feedback and question their assumptions (do you think that Helsinki and Boulder rest on their laurels? That’s how they became great!)

Everyone CAN get going right now. Yes, growing your ecosystem is a long game but do you remember that tv show “Extreme Makeover”? Well, you could do an Extreme Entrepreneurial Makeover and start on it right now. Won’t be easy and will be disruptive but I can show you how. I want to show you how! [free preview available upon request!].

Brad Feld talks persuasively that a good entrepreneurial community grows bottom-up, led by people who truly get it, who share the entrepreneurial mindset. It is not led by posers and wannabes, no matter how well-intentioned… or well-positioned politically.

The key to the “Extreme Makeover” is hearing what the entrepreneurial community is really saying and that means leaders who get all of this. So….

“Steal This Op-Ed”*

It’s election time in the USA and I’ve pitched an op-ed column to the paper about what voters should ask candidates about growing entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs. What would entrepreneurs want to hear from civic officials, regardless of political stripes? I’ve been hearing from the entrepreneurs, now let’s hear the candidates!

Here’s a link to a longer piece [http://bit.ly/CandidateGuideEntrep] and HERE is the draft op-ed! [http://www.slideshare.net/norriskrueger/what-voters-should-ask-candidates] Also I’d be tickled to turn this into a shareable questionnaire.

* So if YOU want to steal my op-ed for YOUR paper, I am happy to have you steal it! If being an entrepreneur taught me anything, it’s that we are all in this together.

Chattanooga? Model for the Boises of the world?

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 23:04:00 +0000

Chattanooga? Model for the Boises of the world?

Anyone who’s seen what Chattanooga has quietly done over the last decades knows what a ‘can do’ group of citizens are able to make happen… their own gigabit internet, incubating businesses, building not just a great entrepreneurial community but... a great community period! But I’ll leave the rest to anyone who’s interested.

An old Idaho chum, the shy-and-retiring ;) Wild Bill Sellers, former Idaho Falls gadfly/cheerful curmudgeon and co-inventor of Idaho Tech Launch, sent me the link below and asked for all the ideas hw could “steal” and pitch to the organizers of Chattanooga’s Next Big Thing. Startup Week. (Not sure if this is the Startup Week being pitched by UP Global but it’s a great, great idea… IFF it’s done well, of course.) After seeing how Colorado Springs pulled off a great week-long event recently – despite opposition from the Turf Monsters ;) –> it sounds like the kind of thing that can bring together all the good folks in a community.

http://www.nooga.com/167481/call-for-proposals-startup-week-organizers-seek-event-ideas/

So the following is what I sent Bill... and it makes me want to plunge forward myself! (I will insert a few short asides as to how this might work in, ahem, Idaho.)

So… anything below that makes you want IN?

/NK

[Norris rant/on]

Dear Bill, er, Chattanooga:

Ah, Startup Week! Is this part of the national/global effort from UP Global?

#1 Success Factor. Do NOT ask the "experts", tell them to ask the entrepreneurs. Sponsors may insist on some input but that's ok as long as you listen to the entreps.

See www.bigomaha.com for a shorter, but great model. Founder Jeff Slobotski will help them.

Really depends on what the community wants to learn (again NOT what the "experts” think they need to hear. ) Having said that, here are some ideas that play well anywhere. Here are three:

1. Think Global; Act Local [let me plug great OTHER folks]

2. Ecosystem Building

3. Mindset Growing

1. GLOBAL and LOCAL: Engage National/Global Allies & Friends

If this is not the UP Global Startup Week model, I'd still reach out ASAP to them –for example, my friend Shauna Causey, shauna@up.co, tell her I sent ya! They have tons of ideas. See GEW below.

Kauffman is going through some changes but they are still trying to help communities - start with my new chum Nathan Kurtz there [nkurtz@kauffman.org] and the totally awesome 1 Million Cups initiative which they should launch [www.1millioncups.com]

SourceLink - dynamite model for keeping the ecosystem defragged [www.kcsourcelink.com for best example; Cathi Ulrich, ulrichc@umkc.edu is key contact. She is one of those who nominated me for the National Advisory Council for Innov and Entrep! Totally badass, Cathi might be a great speaker for this event, as would Shauna, Nathan and Slobotski.

Global Entrepreneurship Week - 3rd week of November but becoming almost year-round. The Chattanooga team needs to connect there too if they haven't already. There are some global events that make much sense - for example, do a Startup Weekend at the start or end of GEW and the winners become part of a GLOBAL competition. Total hoot. And a great way to help keep the positive momentum rolling after the October event!!!

Is that enough, Bill? (Whew... I envy you, bro... I wish we could get the squabbling children together here to do something like this! NOTE to Idaho: We are making progress… keep your eyes peeled!)

2. DEFRAG: Growing Your Own Entrep Ecosystem [http://goo.gl/6mmmy]

Bill, show them this: dress rehearsal of video being used all across EU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1poz3eKdSbo

A series of events where you engage the entrepreneurs in growing the ecosystem. Bill, this is what I do -- it can be a 2-3 hour workshop or a series of activities.Combines the best of what we know with serial entrep/VC Brad Feld's clever model (book: "Startup Communities")

Done this for OECD, EU, in Singapore, Japan, Cairo, NJ, Denmark and Moscow/Pullman (that was actually a blast... seeing UI & WSU work *together*? Priceless!) These workshops always make an impact -and surfaces the turf monsters.... :)

If they want to focus on ecosystem growing, you have them

a) do a world-class map of the ecosystem, starting in advance... Has to be done brilliantly - a crappy map is not a big help (that's what most cities have).

b) do a listening session: use AI/ABCD tools - again, entreps only. Could do more than 1. (Should.)

c) tactics workshop (the 2-3 hour version mentioned above)

d) "How to be a Super-Connector": http://www.slideshare.net/norriskrueger/how-to-be-your-ecosystems-liaison-animateur

e) How to Keep the Momentum: simple mechanisms for keeping the lessons alive (e.g., the right metrics...)

Other cheap/easy tactics here: http://goo.gl/WLQZrH

If they like, this could comprise an event each day. I can prep local facilitators so this doesn't become a great event that fades in a week. [NOTE to Idaho: We can do this… so let’s!]

3. Nurturing the Entrepreneurial Mindset

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-04/to-teach-entrepreneurship-get-out-of-the-classroom

Colorado Springs had a terrific Startup Week, led by the local community college and the Kauffman Foundation. Their focus was building human capital (the ecosystem stuff is more social capital) so they centered around an example of great experiential learning… (Hands on projects are NOT necessarily experiential.. so part of this was a workshop on that. Another ridiculously self-serving link: http://www.slideshare.net/norriskrueger/experiential-entrepreneurship-education-state-of-the-art-coneeect-sofia )

The example they used is the Kauffman-backed Ice House - it is really deadly good, sneaks in great experiential lessons disguised in a corny framework that plays well with most populations, 3 min video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsmsxzuu2PI (also if you prefer sketchpad version: http://www.kauffman.org/newsroom/2013/11/the-ice-house-manner-and-mindset-of-teaching-entrepreneurship-featured-in-new-kauffman-sketchbook/ ) Watch that sketchbook and video and TRY to tell me that we don’t want this kind of great programming in your community!

[NOTE to Idaho: I am working with Ice House and a deep connection with NFTE who's got a similar program. Why not put something like Ice House in EVERY school?]

So, tell me true, my friends… assuming you’ve read this far ;) … am I giving Chattanooga bad advice?

entrepreneurially yours, Norris
@entrep_thinking/Facebook/G+/LinkedIn

Celebrating Idaho's Coolest Entrep/Tech Stories! Will you help?

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 21:51:00 +0000

Feeling the entrepreneurial buzz?

Just got blown away by the Breaker BOI event where design thinking gurus are helping HS students to team up for radical innovation. Wow! [Major props to the Albertson Foundation & Lisa Fisher, plus Juliette from Project Breaker and Susie Wise from Stanford's mind-blowing d.school!] About damned time that we brought genuine experts in design thinking!

Also, I am driving north to speak at and mentor in the "Be The Entrepreneur" bootcamp by the Palouse Knowledge Corridor [link - still time to get there, at least drop by Sunday AM to lob tomatoes at my talk :) ]

A quick favor -- I am on the ITC's marketing committee and we're working on two ideas, one we need YOU to chime in! (I know you all are shy... but please help us out?)

You've heard my mantra

"Celebrate. Educate. Initiate."
...possibly ad infinitum? ;)

Imagine 15-16 of the coolest tech stories in Idaho showing off!

We want to put together a 2015 showcase for the best entrepreneurial/tech stories in Idaho - companies who are doing amazing things, creating incredible value but we do NOT want this to be the usual suspects, we want the Hidden Gems. (We also want to showcase the full range of Idaho's tech wizardry and encompass the entire state.)

I am lobbying hard for the Ignite/pecha kucha model where speakers talk for 5 minutes in front of a wildly supportive audience. As I get deeper into launching the national/global TEDxEntrepreneurship in August write for details], I am increasingly convinced that if you've got a great story... we can help you be a great presenter.

So............

Will you send me ideas for presenters - especially hidden gems, especially non-Boise (but still want them), and a variety of industries?

Will you keep your eyes out for great candidates?

This is going to be FUN! But we need your help to keep this being the same-old, same-old.

If every Idaho economic developer, every Idaho entrepreneur, every Idaho entrepreneurial supporter on this elist sends me just ONE candidate... we could have an event that could draw national media attention and allow us to truly...

Celebrate (what great things we have)

Educate (learn from these folks) and

Initiate (use their example to inspire others to action!)

p.s. the other idea is a portal for resources supporting entrepreneurship, etc. Given that there are basically ZERO successful portals out there (and Idaho's prior efforts have fallen short).. it's a daunting task.:)

BUT there is one exception and that's the new SourceLink model (www.ussourcelink.com) that embeds the portal into a more proactive connector model which itself is embedded within a serious, independent, no-turf-monsters-allowed ecosystem defrag effort. Anyway, check out especially www.kcsourcelink.com and play with it a while... SourceLink really wants to do Idaho (and they are making noises about my joining their board) so.. check out the KC site and dream of an Idaho version.

And as always...

Entrepreneur Up, Idaho!

Vote early, vote often? :)

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Sat, 17 May 2014 02:51:00 +0000

Vote early, vote often? :)

Pro-entrepreneur public policy is (a) hard to find and (b) usually misses the point...completely. One huge reason is that entrepreneurs aren't engaged in the process.

"Everyone loves progress; everyone hates change"

On the other hand, it is surprisingly easy to figure out where candidates stand on key issues that matter to us. First, do they use the bully pulpit to support healthy entrepreneurial ac tivity? Or just recycle clichés? Second, do they really know and understand entrepreneurs? Or just think so? Third, ask them “would you rather be the windshield or the bug?” We can only choose between being disrupted or being the disruptor.

It's hard for insanely busy entrepreneurs to get involved in the political process which is messy, often illogical and definitely time-consuming. But we CAN get involved in educating elected and appointed officials in what really makes an entrepreneurial economy... truly entrepreneurial.

And back that with our votes.

Let me throw out some ideas for what we should look for in what civic officials say and do. Better still, if YOU are running for office, here are questions to ask yourself!

If you can only ask one question of a candidate or official, ask if they know entrepreneurs – real entrepreneurs – and do they listen to them? Really listen? Do they get what entrepreneurs really want. If they share what they hear entrepreneurs saying about to build on what we have... they’re a keeper.

If you want to educate them, use things like http://bit.ly/CandidateGuideEntrep and I urge you to read it closely. However, Let me give you four key things to look for (shamelessly stolen from Brad Feld's book "Startup Communities") that a smart candidate can adopt as talking points. (Or see video here)

1. Do I focus relentlessly on helping bottom-up activities? Or do I work with, support or listen to the top-down, whether institutions, "power players" or The Usual Suspects? Government can fly cover for the bottom-up but shouldn't try to control them, even with the best of intentions? (See #3 below!)

1a. Who do I listen to about growing Idaho's economies? Self-styled experts? Smart, passionate, persuasive amateurs are particularly dangerous to listen to. Ask the *entrepreneurs* not those who want to speak for them.

2. Am I including all the different 'flavors' of entrepreneur? Or do I get distracted by the sexy high-tech, high-growth ventures? Entrepreneurship is very much a big tent.

3. Am I helping create rallying points for the entrepreneurial community? To finding out from the entrepreneurial community (again, not those who speak for them) what would galvanize them? In Feld's words: Government and institutions are not leaders but they can be feeders. You can play connector but you can also play convenor – do I support bringing entrepreneurs together for events like "1 Million Cups" (www.1millioncups.com)? And remember that all this must be led by entrepreneurs not institutions?

4. Am I in this for the long haul? It took Silicon Valley decades to become an overnight success. We’re behind the curve, so let's get started. Idaho’s entrepreneurial community is fragmented, so let's defrag it! [Start here! http://goo.gl/6mmmy and here! http://goo.gl/WLQZrH ]

Bonus question: Do you see entrepreneurs as motivated by money? Or do you realize that entrepreneurship is about making cool things happen. Cool things that create great new value?

Do you stand for maximizing the Benjamins... or do you stand for creating new value?

And will you vote for those who do?

Entrepreneur Up!

Norris

(for more on entrepreneurial ecosystems, check these links: http://goo.gl/v0YIIX)

We’re #49! We’re #49! :)

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 19:32:00 +0000

We’re #49! We’re #49! :)

The formation of new businesses since the end of the recession has been lackluster at best. Job creation by new firms has lagged as well. In the latest data from the good folks at EMSI (Moscow, Idaho!) where does Idaho rank among the states for net new business formation?

#49.

Ouch.

Add in the average number of jobs per startup has declined nationally since before the recession. And gross job creation peaked in 2005… pretty much globally. Then look at the self-employed: Those numbers are declining too (also still at least 25% of the Idaho workforce).

What the bloody hell is going on??

Job creation by startups in Idaho is better than the new business formation rate would suggest but - just as before the recession* – the overwhelming percentage of net new jobs comes from the growth of existing businesses. (Jobs from in-migrating firms remain very low.)

Cities are important, too. By the way, the best correlate of job growth is population growth. That means we also need to look at within/across states. Example: Indiana’s data looks pretty good but it’s pretty much all in the Indianapolis area. Rural areas are seeing a significant move in jobs from rural to urban. Idaho has the same issues but my SWAG is that we’re at least better (less bad) than the Hoosiers. Still, we eventually want to decentralize our DEFRAG of Idaho’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

What the bloody hell can we DO?

The states (and countries and cities) that ARE seeing strong net business formation are doing things very differently. The top 1% of those cities look and act in ways that we can learn from. Some quick examples plus how Idaho can follow suit. (for example)

1. Listen to the entrepreneurs: The bully pulpit

How many people in high places are singing the praises of entrepreneurial activity? Is the media? Has this filtered down to the local level? More important, are they listening to the entrepreneurial community? (And actually hearing what they say?) Too often, cities and states end up listening to the power players and institutions who with the absolute best of intentions end up focusing on giving entrepreneurs what they think we need (not what we actually want).

2. Few of us are truly ambidextrous: Execution/Implementation versus Ideas

A “great” idea is not a great idea unless you can make it work. (“Better a Grade A entrepreneur and a Grade B idea than vice-versa!”) Whether the idea is home-grown or a “shiny pebble” we see elsewhere, there’s a natural tendency to want to do it ourselves (see #3 below) but our communities deserve the best, yes?

“Ambidextrous” in the management world is being good at identifying what to do AND being good at implementing, a rarer skill than we’d like to think. It’s easy to get this backward – ask great implementers to come up with great ideas. (The ambidextrous few are invaluable, of course.)

3. Listen to the experts: No more amateur night

Why would you give creative input to those who’ve been awful for literally decades, especially when A+ expertise is readily available? (And why would you give them creative control? Sigh… ) Communities have this maddening tendency to want to do things themselves. Yes, we need deep, broad local buy-in and effort. But there is so much expertise at Idaho’s fingertips that is outside the borders (and willing to help us! And they will listen to Idaho’ entrepreneurs – how do you think they got to be experts?)

4. Everyone needs a Secret Evil Plan?

Bottom-up and inclusive but have a plan. The most successful communities have an overarching framework that marshals institutions in support of the bottom-up wants of the entrepreneurial community. Resources get aligned to maximize the delivery of value to the entrepreneurial community. This characterizes every great entrepreneurial ecosystem I have ever seen. It can happen organically but it can be nudged along (even shoved!)

5. Google Maps?

What are the first two things you do when you open up Google Maps? The start point and the end point, eh? So how many communities really understand their starting point – how many have a great map of their ecosystem? (VERY few… though some communities have multiple competing maps that basically suck.) Even fewer have any sense of the ‘end point’- how many actually have asked the entrepreneurial community about their vision of where we could be? Almost none.

Any city or state who will do these two things brilliantly will jumpstart their entrepreneurial ecosystem. (And aligning resources becomes a lot easier.) But you have to do it brilliantly. Bring in the experts (example)

6. You Win With People (or... “Ecosystems are Soylent Green?”)

Entrepreneurial ecosystems aren’t lists of participants – the best maps (and visions and strategies) capture the dynamics and especially the interconnections in the system. Great ecosystems reward proactive connectors. But that makes them intolerant of the turf-grabbers, narcissists and other pathogens in the system.

Jim Collins’ great maxim that we need to get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus has never been truer. But who are the “right” people? Who are the “wrong” people? And how do we get the wrong people off the bus when they’ve duct-taped themselves to the steering wheel? (Part of being “wrong” is feeling entitled to drive despite any actual expertise. Cue the Dunning-Krueger effect?) Google Bob Sutton’s “No Asshole Rule”. You will thank me.

Markers of the “right” people/organizations? Think the 3 C’s: Competent, Connected, Collegial. When you start the ecosystem re-build, find the people who:

a) bring a particular A-grade expertise at something mission-critical. Are they the best in the state at something important?

b) are connected both locally AND at the regional/national/global level. Do the best people in the world on a topic think highly of them?

c) are trustworthy. Have they ever grabbed turf that wasn’t theirs or claimed expertise they didn’t have? The heart of a great ecosystem is trust. Awfully hard to get started using people that have been untrustworthy…visibly.

7. Bold, public commitment – not just to growing the ecosystem but also to embracing disruption

We can be the squirrel or the truck. We can no longer choose to be neither. Disrupt or be disrupted. Or, more likely, disrupt AND be disrupted. We are back to the bully pulpit: the economy is going to be very different in 10 years, even 5 years. More important, it is already more important.

Adapting is not going to be incremental – it is going to be very discontinuous and most likely where you least want things disrupted. Assume your business model is toast in 3-5 years… if you’re lucky. But remember that business models are about serving customers and others… who wouldn’t be enthused about getting better at serving customers??

8. ENJOY the ride (“Move that bus!”)

Idaho may be #49 in creating new businesses... but we have every reason to believe that we can change that. Radically. Now.

We have it within our grasp to jumpstart our entrepreneurial ecosystem. Think of it as an Extreme Makeover… an Extreme Entrepreneurial Makeover. (Apologies if you haven’t seen the tv show.)

First steps for Idaho (more ideas at DEFRAG, tactics, metrics)

1. Bully Pulpit: Celebrate. Educate. Initiate. Never miss an opportunity to celebrate what we have. Never miss an opportunity to educate all of Idaho’s citizens on all this. Never miss an opportunity to initiate things like this Extreme Entrepreneurial Makeover or to support other’s initiatives.

2. Listen to the Experts/Ambidexterity: Take advantage of all those who have already said they’d help us. Be ruthless about great implementation. Quit playing amateur night.

3. Evil Plan: Use the cutting edge of what we know to create a strategy to engage institutions in helping. Comprehensive entrepreneurship development strategies (e.g., FIRE) pull together the no-brainer proven practices that will support bottom-up, entrepreneur-led efforts. Job #1

4. “Google Maps”: Do a first-class mapping of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. We know how to do it well. Job #2. And do a first-class assessment of the entrepreneurial community’s vision for where we want to go. We also know how to do this well. Job #3.

5. Win With People: Identify an “A Team” who pass both the 3 C’s and Bob Sutton’s test. Use the bully pulpit to empower them.

6. Bold, Public Commitment: Make the need to embrace disruption a recurring theme – emphasize that embracing disruption is the only way to help mold our future. And support that with training and resources to help Idahoans to do exactly that. Once again, we know how to do that.

7. Have Fun! In the tv show “Extreme Makeover” they did things in a week or less. It will take us longer, maybe a lot longer. But doesn’t that mean all the more reason to get started?

I can’t wait till Idaho can yell “Move that bus!” and unveil a stronger, more resilient (and job creating!) economy, fueled by a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Somebody try to tell me this won’t be ridiculously fun…. And won’t create jobs!

ADVENT is NOT Over!

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 23:49:00 +0000

ADVENT is NOT Over!

Well, not if you spell it correctly.

“ADV-ENT”.

As in ADVancing ENTrepreneurship! (You know I’m relentless on this… LOL)

We are coming up fast on 2014 and my New Years wish is for all of us to tap into our inner entrepreneur and figure out something magnificent to do in 2014. Are you with me?

Looking back at 2013, I am amazed at two things:

1. How many adventures I have had [http://goo.gl/v4uR4m] and

2. How poorly I’ve been paid (LOL but…)

2014 is shaping up to be just as adventurous… maybe more [I have been invited to give a keynote address at a major new entrepreneurship conference in…. Tehran! Gulp.] but it is time for me to ask your advice about getting paid.

To paraphrase that eminent philosopher and businessman Calvin Broadus, “Business isn’t in the telling, business is in the selling.” [A cup of coffee or a beer to those of you who know Mr. Broadus’s nom de plume… without google.]

Especially fun stuff from 2013…

I got mentioned in Business Week right under a photo of Sir Richard Branson and a few of my friends thought it was a really crappy picture of me. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-04/to-teach-entrepreneurship-get-out-of-the-classroom

This was from the World Entrepreneurship Forum where I got to do my ecosystem-building workshop with an all-star cast. [You really should have me do this in your community – powerful stuff and great fun!]

Got to help launch the ICSB’s cool new Online Learning Excellence workshops – how do you pull off deeply experiential entrepreneurial learning… online? (Got to lob a few more hand grenades on that too… )

I won’t bore you with more (for now…. Ha!) Instead I’ll close with some advice I got to share with high school programs in Texas who want to “go big” entrepreneurially but they are at Square One right now. Here’s what I shared. What would you add/change?

Great Things That High School Students Can Do!

Ice House: World class introduction to entrepreneurship

short video (3 min): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsmsxzuu2PI
if you click on only one link, click on the one above! Are you in???

longer video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mg2GPWc0Go

sketchpad: http://www.kauffman.org/newsroom/2013/11/the-ice-house-manner-and-mindset-of-teaching-entrepreneurship-featured-in-new-kauffman-sketchbook/

website: www.whoownstheicehouse.com

"Entrepreneurial Heroes"

Have your students identify and vet a local "Entrepreneurial Hero" and shoot a short video with a phone on what makes them a true Entrepreneurial Hero. What is their special sauce to create vlaue? How did that business model evolve? Focus on substance not style. Good opportunity to introduce them to business models!)

Speaking of business models, look up Steve Blank's Lean Launchpad class on Udacity (free!) If you go to www.steveblank.com (his blog) you'll see where they tried the Udacity class in a Cleveland-area HS... and it worked without dumbing it down [except maybe for the teachers? ;) ] Next, they tried it in a junior high. Still worked.

HUGE opportunity to reach out to the entrepreneurial community - as speakers and especially mentors!

Ecosystem mapping - SAOSW (Students Are Our Secret Weapon!)

Students can help connect your school with the entrepreneurial community - one thing that every entrep ecosystem needs is good mapping. From NACCE: http://www.slideshare.net/norriskrueger/nacce-2013-ecosystem-workshop

Other ecosystem-building tactics that students can help with: http://goo.gl/WLQZrH

World Entrepreneurship Forum - Day 4 plus Reflections!

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Mon, 25 Nov 2013 01:48:00 +0000

WEF Round 4 plus Reflections

Sorry for the delay on this but I wanted to process the Saturday “master class” workshop on how we – as individuals – can help defrag and grow our own local entrepreneurial ecosystems. (OK, I still needed to type up all the flip charts that the breakout teams developed… They are well worth the wait!)

We kicked off with a short pep talk from ecosystem-maestro Brad Feld [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlFqc8gSm18]*

The general format went as follows [http://www.slideshare.net/norriskrueger/world-entrepreneurship-forum-startup-communities]

Quick icebreaker: “Are We There Yet?” How would you know if your local ecosystem was getting more entrepreneurial?

A little background on the science / what we know about ecosystems, leading to first breakout:

If the GEM and GEDI tell us that the two keys to a more entrepreneurial economy are mindset and ecosystem (or more formally, entrepreneurial human capital and entrepreneurial social capital)… so what can we do as individuals on each front?

The initial round of team ideas was both energetic and highly plausible. (At this point, I think the WEF leaders there realized that we were starting to build a lengthy list of action items for WEF… ha!)

Amazing how inclusive the teams were – without anyone having to work to get people to talk… or argue ;)

The teams each presented and… funny, but you could categorize almost all of their ideas and all of their key themes under one of the four strategic directions proposed by Brad Feld in his recent book, Startup Communities:

1. Needs to be led bottom-up, led by the entrepreneurial community itself

2. Inclusive – need to support all the participants if possible

3. Rallying points for community

4. Long term perspective

So… we revamped the breakout groups and I tasked them to each tackle one of the “Feld Four”. Results? Unfrellingbelievable! J See the photos (I will transcribe them) for yourself.

Finally, we tried a rapid fire round robin, asking each participant to tell us how “we” could help them… “we” defined as the WEF organization AND as each other.

My favorite idea: Each of us do a short video.. teaching each other something. Can you imagine the library of short videos if every WEF member/delegate did this? (The JWEF team too… it is entirely possible that we will need them to teach us how to do youtube-style videos?)

Ecosystem = “flavor of the month”?

Since WEF, I attended the OECD’s big conclave on policy regarding entrepreneurial ecosystems. Some good stuff from policy makers [everyone's slides here; I especially recommend those by Peter Vogel]. By the time I spoke, I shifted gears from slides to talking about tactics. What the WEF confirmed for me is that if you’re going to be truly bottom-up and inclusive, then somebody better talk about things we can do... as citizens. Please read this [Ecosystem Tactics] and let me know what you think. It represents the convergence of what I’ve learned over the years (including Feld’s ideas), what I learned from the WEF delegates and what I learned that very day from my colleagues at the OECD event. I hope they will see their handiwork in my list of A+ tactics for ecosystem defragging!

Here’s one great ecosystem defragging tool from Kauffman – 1 Million Cups! http://new.livestream.com/kauffmanfoundation/1MC102313

p.s. the OECD event made it clear that we need to separate enabling/supportive conditions from the processes/activities (Glenda Napier did a great job of showing this). again all the OECD slides are here

I also had the opportunity to plug the idea of doing first-rate ecosystem mapping (BIG shout out to my NACCE friends, Sheena Lindahl and Sarah Green of Empact and NACCE Fellows Tim Putnam & Gary Muller –they did the heavy lifting on this one!) [NACCE workshop slides]

I miss you all!

I wish I could personally thank everyone who attended the WEF master class workshop on ecosystem building- did not get your names. But let me thank especially Sassan and Essam from Dubai, Matt Symonds, entrepreneur/journalist par excellence, Eythor Jonsson, Jeannine Javelosa and Hassan Nizrin (both were part of the 2012 WEF ecosystem session that made all this possible), Melinda Emerson, Steve Strauss, Rickie Moore and Dan Evans from Lyon/WEF AND the ever-energetic Viet Anh Vu of WEF who made all this sing. (Also thanks to WEF directors Caroline Le Brun and Angela Feigl for dropping by and not immediately running off in terror, LOL… )

* Mahesh Arungundam from the 2012 WEF ecosystem session did too [link]

Happy Global Entrepreneurship Week!

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 23:35:00 +0000

Happy Global Entrepreneurship Week!

Sorry that I keep getting invites elsewhere for this great week but I *am* thinking of you all.
Amazing, amazing things afoot globally but Idaho is inching forward. GE "Week" hasbecome a misnomer, now a year-round celebration.

In honor of GEW, I will post items this week to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn with hashtag #IdahoRocks so please follow at @entrep_thinking on Twitter and/or 'Norris Krueger' on LinkedIn and Facebook.

I will be posting the good news for Idaho, the USA and the world on entrepreneurship.. but please feel free to add your own items with the #IdahoRocks hashtag. (Even if you're not from Idaho, lol) I will also try to remember to update the blog with this.

MONDAY: First fun item...

During my visit to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, I made a couple of solemn promises to the Foundation, one of which was to make sure that their powerful introductory entrepreneurship training program "Ice House" get going in Idaho. Watch these videos and tell me that you aren't just as psyched as I am!

Ice House
short video (3 min): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsmsxzuu2PII
longer video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mg2GPWc0Go

Ping me via email (norris.krueger@gmail.com) or Twitter or Facebook if you're interested in helping!

TUESDAY: Top Ten Myths/Misconceptions About Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship!
http://goo.gl/o5Iocq

WEDNESDAY: from my dear friends at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation...

Maybe THE highlight of my recent visit there! 305 people roaring with entrepreneurial energy... wow, just wow!

http://new.livestream.com/kauffmanfoundation/1MC102313

The REAL "wings" of Entrepreneurship?

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 08:09:00 +0000

Had this exchange tonight with two of my new friends from the World Entrepreneurship Forum - two of Dubai's leading entrepreneurial champions... They started by talking about the intensity of entrepreneurial activity (startups at least) and it's in the air, in the very DNA of the place.

I did my usual "How can I help?" (Trust me, these are two guys who deserve it - they were rock stars in my how-to-build-entrepreneurial-ecosystem master class/workshop... Sans doute!)

Here's the reply...
"Wings, Norris, we need the Wings ;) "

My semi-corny response...
"Ever look at a plane and wonder HOW that big piece of metal flies? But we believe it works, yes?

Wings are easy... just bend it into a reasonable airfoil.
But what you also need is the faith that you have the ingredients for flight.
And to have people like you guys around to have faith in them.

...example...
Don't seem to have enough VC/angel capital?
Of the Inc 500 fastest growing firms... every year most of them are completely bootstrapped.
Have faith that you can make it work - you WILL find the right business model.

Mentors help. Role models help. (And, yes, resources help.)
But an entrepreneurial economy is very much a self-fulfilling prophecy.
And it grows one entrepreneur at a time!

Use your December WEF event to blow some air under a few wings! "

At the same time I'm talking to a great young thinker in Denmark who is bringing together a bunch of all-stars to talk about the "microfoundations of strategy" - that is, the individual is the key player. You need innovators to grow innovation. You need entrepreneurs to grow entrepreneurship.

Most of you reading this are going "Duh!"... but you'd be surprised how many in academe AND in the halls of power who don't really believe that. Institutions matter. A lot. We do want the right kinds of enabling conditions but it still comes down to individuals taking action. Not necessarily alone but it is still about taking action.

What Makes Us Take Bold Action?
A bias toward action is important... where does it come from?
It is very situational..

What is the evidence?
* It helps to believe in our own capabilities, personal and collective.
* It also helps to know that, yes, our efforts will be worth it... that we ARE creating significant new value of somebody...
* It helps that we know that we are going to learn, even if we fall flat tomorrow.
* We act because we've taken action before in similar situations..
* And we definitely act when the risk of "missing the boat" dwarfs the risk of "sinking the boat"
Alas, our brain's own wiring conspires against us... We are quicker to act in response to a threat than we are to an opportunity... we how do we learn to override our wiring and act on opportunities?

Consider two different modes of action...
a) Reflect then act or...
b) Act then reflect?
The latter is at the heart of how human learn important things...
(Study/read/process then go for it... or learn enough to get started, then go for it, knowing that this is rarely a one-off... You get to learn and try again... if, of course, you actually learn!)
You will shocked to know that experiential learners... are more prone to take strategic action in pursuit of opportunities. Yes, we may be wired to react to negative signals more quickly and more strongly but... you have heard of neuroplasticity? This is all about re-wiring... and we all have the capability!

BTW: Here's a quick read from Wired: http://www.wired.com/business/2013/10/free-thinkers/

And, yes, this is my passion for constructivistic, true experiential learning that shows up again... but this time it is also what truly matters in growing an entrepreneurial economy. At the World Entrepreneurship
Forum, at NACCE, and again at the OECD's ecosystem conclave... it was a recurring subtext in much of the entrepreneurial ecosystem discussion: Action is key. Individuals acting. (more on that in the next post...)

Thank you all for believing that we DO have wings... and for all that you do to blow wind under them... for me, for everyone.

Love you all,
Norris

.

Day 3: World Entrepreneurship Forum

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 09:59:00 +0000

Day 3: World Entrepreneurship Forum

WEF was still going strong on its second full day: The day opened with extended conversations with several of the 2013 Award winners. A few highlights:

Highlights for the Day: What Spoke to Me

Yesterday had the steal-able phrase of “Don’t wait for the door to open, build your own damned door.” Today, Dan Epstein of the Be Unreasonable program had another that I am stealing:

“Be Pathologically Collaborative” LOL but… think about it. What if we all try to help each other, even when in conflict with our mandates and entitlements? (We already know that healthy local economies are characterized by participants contributions where they add the most value, not what the necessarily want to do.) Think of the enabling conditions we would accelerate!

I thought Dan was speaking directly to me when he challenged us to identify:

“What’s MY unreasonable thing?” That is what I should be working on. Gulp.

…by the way, click on this-> “Unreasonable At Sea” (…you will thank me... but you will thank the Be Unreasonable crew even more)

Ashish Thakkar of the Mara Group. Just like all the other presenters, incredibly humble and incredibly aware of what more needs to be done. Ashish wants nothing less than to bring the African Lion to the forefront of global commerce.

The Mara Group partners widely and enthusiastically with firms and individuals with top-flight expertise AND with willingness to enter 20+ African countries. Mara brings in-depth on-the-ground expertise in each country.

You want a market with 1 billion+ people? Talk to Ashish! (I am.)

WEF Leadership

During this day, my reflections kept coming back to the WEF crew themselves. If I were creating my own program like WEF I would recruit most of them (assuming I could afford them!) My young friend Viet Anh Vu seems to be everywhere and on top of everything. I see in him an awesome leader in the making. Faculty gurus Dan Evans and Rickie Moore get more things developed and implemented at EM Lyon and WEF. (Dan is a math major and a Buckeye; Rickie spent 6 months in Boise courtesy of HP.)

Finally, I really enjoyed working with WEF’s executive directors. Outgoing director Caroline Brun always seemed poised and calm no matter what the madness swirling about. The incoming director, Angela Feigl, brings different skills and personality to the table – I was particularly taken by Angela’s eagerness to explore new partnerships. VERY entrepreneurial and my readers will know that I always resonate with people like that! Having both Angela and Caroline on board goes a long way to explaining why WEF 2013 took such a big jump forward (so… thanks!)

How WEF could keep taking positive leaps forward? Angela, Viet and Dan talked about what if WEF members/delegates could each just recruit 1 good new delegate, WEF could move forward without losing the intimacy and the ridiculously high quality of attendees. (Apparently, I am expected to do more recruiting. Hint. Hint.)

Huge thanks and major props to Dan, Viet, Angela, Rickie and the rest!

I would ride into battle with any of these colleagues and friends.

JWEF

Speaking of the future, perhaps the most amazing aspect of WEF is the Junior WEF. Chapters are growing around the globe, including local/regional conferences that were uniformly impressive in places like Shanghai, Chile and Argentina. (Also: Check out the Rural WEF conference in India that focused completely on sustainability.)

I’d single out some of the more impressive JWEF delegates but it is actually very, very hard to pick out only a few. [Though I really want to go hang out with most of the chapters. Invite me to Buenos Aires? Marie from Shanghai *ordered* me to visit Shanghai, lol.] Quite a few of them are entrepreneurs – with very cool business models that are very much born global (check out, for example, Sophie Vurbillot’s Planet Expat! I learned about it at our dining-out event downtown where I was apparently the only person in Singapore using chopsticks. ) Other JWEF-ers, my apologies for not listing all of you!

Next up... Day 4 and…

My master class/workshop on how you as an individual can grow a more entrepreneurial ecosystem in your own community. (Spoiler: It was mind-blowing.)

World Entrepreneurship Forum Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 17:07:00 +0000

World Entrepreneurship Forum Day 2
Opening session had some remarkable speakers with remarkable messages. Morning session videos should be posted on the WEF website.

Want to Improve Society? Create Jobs.
Hearing Singapore’s Minister of Trade & Development call himself “Minister of Entrepreneurship”? Priceless.

It gets better: They had Russian president Medvedev visit and he was able to set up his own business in…. Two Minutes.

Did I mention that you can set up a legal business entity in Singapore in two minutes?
Must be a way to get Idaho to do that!

(And he shares my definition of “entrepreneurship”: "Entrepreneurship is making things happen" Not a bad way to get started, eh?)

Sustainable Thinking IS Entrepreneurial Thinking!
Chief Almir, of the Surui Amazonian tribe is working to re-forest their ancestral lands and paying for it by tapping into the global carbon-offsets market. I would never have thought of that in a million years. Remember what I said in my last post? Great sustainable thinking DOES require great entrepreneurial thinking! ;)

Celebrate Your Entrepreneurial Successes… Celebrate What You Have!
Passionate comments from Bruno Bonnell of MD Robopolis (and Board Chair for EM Lyon) – I enjoyed bragging on Alain Fayolle to him. (Alain is Da Man in studying entrep education.)

Build Your OWN Damn Door!
Nanxi Liu of www.Enplug.com talked about designing opportunities around new possibilities. Don’t wait for the door to open, she said, build your own door. I am so stealing that image. 
(I also think that WEF needs to steal it as their mantra. That is EXACTLY what we are talking about in these sessions, in our thinktank groups and even at the breaks. Making cool stuff happen. Brains+Passion+Action = Awesome.

Great Panels
My favorite was on incubators and accelerators with Steve Fang of Singapore and my friend Eythor Jonsson from Iceland/Denmark – Thor had the best slides of the day and gave a tour de force overview of accelerators. And at least 5 years of a research agenda both A-journal AND practical!

Awards Banquet
When the first three awards go to:
1. Sir Richard Branson [serial entrep of the year]
2. Ashish Thakkar of the Mara Group [young entrep] and
3. Dan Epstein of Be Unreasonable [entrep educator]
You KNOW it’s a good evening! :)
When the next three are:
4. Handicap International, http://www.handicap-international.us & co-founder Jean-Baptiste Richardier [social entrep]
5. Wamda founder & Aramex founder Fadi Ghandour [business entrepreneur] and
6. Mme Ellen Sirleaf, president of Liberia [policy maker]
Yeah… this was a mind-blowing, inspiring set of WEF award winners.
Honored to have met them. [Jean-Bapiste hung out with us all day; I had NO idea. Mostly he was cheering on Chief Almir.] Great acceptance speeches especially from Dan Epstein and Jean-Baptiste. Videos will be posted on the WEF website.

Bonus: Mahesh was a great contributor last year but could not attend in 2013 - he sent me this video cheering us on! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTsLc-lEXss

World Entrepreneurship Forum - Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 06:26:00 +0000

Singapore!!!! October 30, 2013

The World Entrepreneurship Forum opens in a few hours for nearly 3 days of discussions and 'think tank' activity around growing entrepreneurial ecosystems. This year's theme is timely: Sustainability. (Can you actually identify sustainable opportunities without deeply engaging the entrepreneurial mindset? That's one thing that inspired me about WEF -- they and their members really get it, that you can't have a great entrepreneurial ecosystem without community members having great entrepreneurial mindsets. And a great entrepreneurial ecosystem fosters and supports great entrepreneurial thinking... and does it actively!) http://www.world-entrepreneurship-forum.com/Events/Annual-Meeting/Singapore-2013

The WEF delegates come from every corner of the world, mostly entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs (not that WEF makes any more distinction between them than I do). Mix in a rich variety of policy makers and some media wizards and a tiny handful of eggheads ;) and… who knows?

Got here in the wee hours - remarkable airport and $9 shuttle to the posh Grand Copthorne on the Singapore River. Delta upgraded me PDX to NRT so I wasn't completely brain-fried. This is a marvelous city, another destination where it will be difficult to leave. (Any Singapore universities need a veteran entrepreneurship educator/researcher? :)

The "Who" of WEF

Not sure who will be here from 2012 - but there are some I am fervently hoping for! A newcomer who I scammed into coming is Icelander Eythor Ivar Jonsson who typifies the kind of talent that WEF attracts: Has built incubators & seed forums [http://www.klak.is/2013/01/08/eythor-kvedur-thakkir-fyrir-samstarfid/] and is active in the Global Accelerator Network where I hope he is still working to gather data [hint, hint, Thor!] He and I share a keen interest in studying more rigorously the question of how deep entrepreneurial mindsets can be encouraged! On top of all that, my CD player still has his debut music album.

Sustainability

I might be overly fond of the "residual clamiant" model of entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurial function is to create and allocate economic and noneconomic rents across multiple stakeholders... and keep what's left over. If I can create genuine value for customers/clients, suppliers, employees and neighbors and not go broke... that requires a very different way of looking at the world. This is not an optimization problem, it's a *design* problem.

Now imagine the stakes getting raised for any organization by invoking the triple bottom line - to be sustainable, environmentally, socially AND economically and be able to do that dynamically over an extended period of time? You need great entrepreneurial minds that are already 'bent' in the direction of designing opportunities that move us forward.

I look forward to a few days of seeing what smart, passionate people from an insane variety of backgrounds can come up with. (I am also looking forward to my Saturday am "master class" on ecosystem building. We had a breakthrough last year on this, led by Jeannie Javelosa and Peter Vogel and a great 2012 team. I look forward to raising the bar in 2013 with a workshop where participants will leave with concrete action items for building their own startup communities. (And, yes, there will be much Feld-ian Fun to be had this week!)

After seeing the ecosystem-building power that is arising mightily in the US community college system at the NACCE conference and then seeing how we are finally learning how to really grow entrepreneurial mindsets via the Kauffman Foundation-backed Ice House training... how can we at WEF move this needle even farther?

More tomorrow! [But tell me what YOU want to hear, ok?]

Gobsmacked :)

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 02:34:00 +0000

Gobsmacked.

(Always wanted to use that word.)

This NACCE conference has been a mind-blower. Again. The potential of community colleges to grow entrepreneurs AND entrepreneurial communities is unparalleled. www.nacce.com (Natl Assn for Community College Entrepreneurship)

Seeing what programs (and funding!) is readily available is exciting as hell.

Seeing what other community colleges are doing (often without spending much money) was great. (Only a *little* envy*over my buddies at Spokane CC, Walla Walla CC and (*drum roll*) North Idaho College partnering so brilliantly with Avista. A public utility teaming up so closely with community colleges to drive their economic development efforts? OK… VERY envious!)

Seeing the Immense Potential of community colleges… priceless.

· Who else is better able to deliver all-out true experiential learning? And do it well?

· Who else is better able to bring in and skillfully use expert mentors from the community?

The resources coming online have me revved up…

The Kauffman Foundation [www.kauffman.org] alone has:

· Ice House blended/online experiential entrepreneurship training – gone global and just recognized by the Vatican for the good that Ice House is doing in Africa to empower. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mg2GPWc0Go]

· “1 Million Cups” weekly coffee meetup – in KC, now up to >300 people every week (300!)

· The online Founders Academy

· Helping the Khan Academy to create an entire channel just for entrepreneurship

· Supporting Global Entrepreneurship Week [www.gewusa.org – have YOU signed up yet?]

· Supporting Big Omaha and Big Kansas city (www.bigomaha.com)

Who wants in on doing a Big Idaho????

· The new Slingshot initiative that plugs in badass Entrepreneurs-in-Residence at 10 lucky CCs.

p.s. Why not IDAHO?????

I’m now in DC for the ICSB Public Policy conference (www.gwoctober.com) then Monday-Wednesday (21^st-23^rd) I am invited to the Kauffman Foundation to talk projects!

Any messages from Idaho/Boise for the Kauffman crew?

As always.... Entrepreneur Up!

who AM I??

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 12:04:00 +0000

I'm in Lisbon with the wonderful chance to help mentor the next generation of Europe's entrepreneurship scholars. (Last month, I had the parallel opportunity to help mentor the next generation of young educators.

What an honor. And what a learning experience for me.

Lisbon is incredible - if Portugal ever gets its economy turned back around, this place will be an entrepreneurial powerhouse. They have gone through two total collapses of their economy and rebounded remarkably, so are they possibly too resilient and optimistic?? (Scary that so many Lisbonites remember the TIME of an earthquake in 1755. Not just the day.. the time.)

Makes me wonder... Friends, am *I* too resilient and optimistic? Has it blinded me?

This week I have been having one of those TOO interesting conversations by email and skype with two different Boise friends who have been teasing me unmercifully about being a nominee for Idaho Innovation Awards' Innovator Award. It makes me realize that:
#1 people misuse the terms "innovator" and "innovation" all the time and
#2 I do a lousy job of explaining what I do.

As one friend puts it... "People dismiss you as only a rah-rah guy. A champion, no doubt, but what is your "Product"? What have you created that other people are using?" I responded "Oh, everybody knows...." Uh-oh. :(

Both of them told me pretty bluntly that "They will never let you win." That a couple of key people have a huge (and unconscious?) vested interest in dismissing me. "Why else do people in Idaho not use your ideas?" [Note: I have no idea who is involved in the voting, I just hope this is not true. Don't we want the best for Idaho??]

Amid all this fun and recognition - my European work, huge successes at the Academy of Management conference, etc.... it was VERY humbling to get this deserved kick in the groin. Anyway, these two friends *independently* told me to explain what I do and where people are adopting my "products". (Do I need to introduce those two so they can coordinate their "tough love", lol?)

My friends, will you indulge me a little bit of introspection (and probably a bit of #humblebrag?) I need to work through this and get it out so I can get more groin kicks as needed ;)

TL;DR version of My Innovations:
1. Three innovations on the academic side (one widely-adopted, two are still early but rolling)
2. Two innovations in developing and measuring the entrep mindset (both used globally)
3. Two innovations in assessing and developing entrepreneurial ecosystems (both used globally)
4. Revenue model still needs work. OK, needs a LOT of work :)
5. p.s. And I am helping schools and communities build great entrepreneurship programs.

WHAT HAS NORRIS INNOVATED? (or have I??)

Product #0: Am *I* "the product" - I would like to think that this is a good thing (I am biased, of course ;) A couple of my support letters to the Innovation Awards were blind copied to me (of the 12, most were confidential
although I do know the names ranging from the likes of Jeff Sayer and CWI to a few of the best minds in the entrepreneurship world to a couple of multiple-year Inc. 500 list members. (I am definitely scared to know what some of them have to say... they know me all too well, LOL). But my friends argue that all of this makes me easy to dismiss as that rah-rah guy, a champion not a leader, an egghead, etc. So...

Product #1: I am the co-founder of a major subfield in entrepreneurship research (most-cited author, best paper had >1000 people citing my work..). Check me out on Google Scholar. Before my work, almost nobody studied the intentions of entrepreneurs, it is now one of the biggest topics.
Customers: number in the thousands: scholars AND educators AND even entrepreneurs. (How many entrepreneurs read any academic stuff? It is awesome to know that I have been an exception.)

Product #1A: Co-founder of the NEW niche of neuro-entrepreneurship.
Product #1B: Co-founder of a major initiative to bridge the stupid divides between academics, policy makers and entrepreneurs. This is way overdue. [And we need YOUR help!]

Product #2: The intentions research and neuro-entrepreneurship work has led to the ONLY full framework for understanding the entrepreneurial mindset: How entrepreneurs learn and what that means IN PRACTICE. And how to measure our true impact.
Customers: I am the only person working on full-scale assessments of mindset for major universities, OECD and the EU.

Product #3: Entrepreneurial ecosystem - Customers: the IDAHO 'FIRE" model has been adapted by others - they use it under different names but I always present it as the IDAHO F.I.R.E. model. [Only place where traction is zero... Idaho. Ironic, huh? ;) ]

Product #3A: DEFRAG the entrepreneurial ecosystem model. Customers: Same thing - the DEFRAG model is getting adapted by others but they give it their own name. (Funny, though, my biggest happy-dance moment was a short"attaboy" from Brad Feld.)

Back to the TL;DR list:
1. Three innovations in the academic field of entrepreneurship.
2. Two innovations in developing and measuring the entrep mindset
3. Two innovations in assessing and developing entrepreneurial ecosystems.

4. P.S. AND... please don't tell anybody! I'm now helping CWI to develop a cutting-edge entrepreneurship program that will get national/global recognition. Happy to share what we've got so far. You WILL like.

So am I an Innovator or not? It was encouraging for me to chronicle what I've been blessed to get to do AND a sobering reminder that I have not explained myself remotely well.

Any thoughts (or additional kicks to the groin) are, of course, welcome! I really need your advice.

As always, friends.... Thanks and Entrepreneur Up!

p.s. Why Lisbon remembers the time: Lisbon's 1755 earthquake leveled this very religious/Catholic city. On All Saints' Day while much of the city was at morning High Mass (why they remember the time). Oops, but this meant this was the first major earthquake to get treated as a scientific phenomenon (not an act of God) that in turn jumpstarted what we now call geophysics.

AND within a year, the city was rebuilt. Portugal will be back.
(Architecture/city planning buffs will love the longer story of this. Ping me, if interested. Blanchard.;)

Sturgeon's Law? (90% of everything is....)

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 13:53:00 +0000

“90% of Everything is Crap!”

Gulp. Science fiction giant Ted Sturgeon offered this iron law of the universe more than once.

Actually, all he is doing is pointing out that the world, especially the human world, is Pareto distributed.

You know Pareto’s famous heuristic – the 80/20 Rule? That’s all Sturgeon is saying… provocatively.

Here’s why…. And here’s why it matters in entrepreneurship development.

90% of pretty much anything IS crap… by comparison to the top 10%. In any market, the top 10% of firms tend to control the market share, represent the leading innovation, are the best firms to work for, etc. Look at the distribution of salaries in sports: The best leftfielder in baseball might make 10X what the 10^th-best leftfielder makes. And deserves it.

And among that top 10%, the best 10% of those is head and shoulders above the others. And so on… Think: the Seals are from the very best Marines, Delta Force is the best of the best Seals, etc. You want to tell a Marine that s/he’s crap? :) But if you ask them about the Seals or Delta Force? They know.

Think about it visually: What you have are two Bell curves, one for the 90%+, another for the 1%. If you are on the “90-percenter” curve where the median is set at 20-25 on an 0-100 scale, you’ll see that most ecosystems (and programs) will fall between 15 and 30. If you move from 10 to 20, that looks impressive. However, where you want to be is in the top 1%, yes?

These numbers were developed as part of a global effort to classify entrepreneurship programs. Of the ~5,000 programs worldwide, less than 50 really have something special going. Less than 500 are doing the right things the right way (and for the right reasons). Most programs (4500+) are trapped in the 90% because they will never do what’s necessary to move up. Do you want to be average when average is not very good or....???

Ecosystems are no different. There are maybe 1% of the entrepreneurial communities who are true “Startup Communities” but maybe 10% are starting to get there. So….

Do YOU want to be in the 90% or the 1%? (1)

An Important Point

If we chart ecosystems on a 0-100 scale, “average” doesn’t look very good. This stylized drawing shows how “average” is probably centered around 25 and you don’t really move the needle until you hit 50 or so.

What if 90% of ecosystems “score” between 20 and 30? What if the top 1% scores in the 80s and 90s?

Do you want to move your community from 20 to 25? Or do you want to move it above 50? For likely the same amount of money & effort? Remember that moving like that is often not a function of doing more, trying harder or spending more money. Making the leap requires doing things very differently.

Another Important Point

The difference is not just quantitative, it’s qualitative. Think about the 10,000-20,000 hours of deliberate practice to grow the mindset of an expert. Part of why it takes so long is that experts in a domain see the world very, very differently. In ways that are far from the conventional wisdom. The Navy Seals may be faster and stronger but what really differentiates them is a very different mindset.

Why Does This Matter for Entrepreneurial Ecosystems?

Take a look at the very best entrepreneurial ecosystems.

#1. They are scarce, maybe 1% of communities. If we believe Sturgeon’s Law, that makes them the best of the best of the best. And they are qualitatively different.

#2. They operate very, VERY differently.

It’s Not Just Ecosystems…

Consider as a parallel, the very best programs of technology commercialization. They do 8-10 things that the average program doesn’t do (and maybe can’t do or worse… Won’t do.) Some programs dabble in 1 or 2 of these highly disruptive behaviors but to even make it to an average program, you’ll have to do more and you have to do them well. And if you want to be in the top 1%? You have to do all of them and be good at all of them. (2)

The same dynamics appear to be true for the very, very best entrepreneurial ecosystems. The “special sauce” consists of a set of ingredients, each of which adds its own “flavor” of disruption. Is your community prepared to do these things? No matter how it takes?

If you truly believe in doing the right things the right way AND for the right reasons, you need the right people. And often, that is the hardest and most disruptive behavior of all. You want to tell an entrenched (and ‘entitled’) insider that he or she lacks the right stuff? I’d rather risk annoying that Marine! :)

It all adds up to a new narrative, a new shared mental map of how things work, how things get better and how we do things. When we say “REALLY map the ecosystem”, a big part of this is showing everyone what the current narrative is… the shared cognitive maps and scripts… and showing everyone there’s a new narrative. Once we defrag the existing ecosystem, that new narrative will become clear. If may involve a few 180-degree turns and some judicious shuffling of the chairs.

But do this right? We just may be able to accelerate the growth of a healthy, self-renewing entrepreneurial ecosystem!

(1) If Brad Feld is right, then it will still take decades (that 10-20,000 hours again?). But if he is… shouldn’t we get going? NOW? (and if we can accelerate the process then… shouldn’t we get going? NOW? J )

(2) By the way, the same is true for the very best entrepreneurship programs. (And, intriguingly enough, the top 1% overlaps almost completely with the top 1% of tech commercialization programs. Hmmm…….)

Copernican Revolution is Global!

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Thu, 02 May 2013 06:57:00 +0000

The Copernican Revoution in Entrepreneurial Learning has definitely gone global!

I started typing this on the plane home to Boise from Aarhus, Denmark -- while listening to a duet by Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga (who knew she can really sing? I just need to not, um, sing along...)

Aarhus University is kicking serious butt in entrepreneurship. But it's more than what the school is doing!

It's a very entrepreneurial student body -- the students put together the largest student-designed and run event in Scandinavia, a crazy boat race (www.kapsejladsen.dk and http://vimeo.com/48791138 for more) that:

#1. Draws over 20,000 people -
#2. Despite the vast consumption of beer, etc... never the slightest incident AND
#3. The next AM... not one single bit of litter!

Is it any wonder that it's here where a great experiential entrepreneurship program got launched?
(I know it's good because it's clear that they are making their administrators and colleagues a wee bit nervous. No guarantee but if your dean/president isn't waking up in the middle of the night wondering "what those people up to next?"... you are failing the entrepreneurial community! Laugh... but so far, it's a pretty good marker! Cf. goo.gl/R0b8b )

I was in Aarhus for a board meeting of the multi-nation PACE project [http://badm.au.dk/research/research-groups/icare/pace/ ] This time, I helped on the teaching side as they are gearing up for a killer summer school class in July [http://badm.au.dk/research/research-groups/icare/pace/blog/post/artikel/an-entrepreneurial-summer/ ].

PACE is charged with measuring the impact of deep experiential learning in entrepreneurship AND to create new experiential exercises. You can imagine I was having way too much fun! :)

I think we will find some truly striking impacts in a very short time. (But, heck, if TechStars and Startup Weekend can bend a few brains enough in a short time that they don't bend back... why not here?)

The PACE crew is impressive - they have great people running the classes (like Claus Thrane of Aarhus's Entrepreneur Factory), working on the pedagogy (like badass educational psychologist Lene Tanggaard [Read me!]) and running the program (Per Blenker and my amazing friend Helle Neergaard*). I am so honored to just help!

In August, I'm putting on a panel symposium on meauring impact from experiential entrep ed that will showcase PACE along with the killer programs at places like Chalmers, Twente and Aalto and the entrepreneurial leadership program that EO has just developed. Can't wait to throw a few more hand grenades like goo.gl/R0b8b!

And.. if you know any students, make sure that they check out the new USASBE Launch student competition.. Whoa! [http://www.usasbelaunch.com/]

This weekend's adventure is to beautiful Victoria, BC for the CCSBE conclave... A new paper on neuroentrepreneurship and another edition of teaching the Online Learning Excellence program.

Hey at this rate... Maybe the good guys ARE gonna win! :)

p.s. more links for deep experiential entrep learning:
http://bit.ly/HelgeLobler,
http://bit.ly/ETP2007,
http://bit.ly/EntrepEdChapt

* do i need to change my name to "Krueggaard"?? :)

ECC: Building a Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for Cleantech?

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 01:29:00 +0000

ECC: Building a Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for Cleantech?

Recently, I had the marvelous honor of helping with the first Energize conference by the Utah-based Energy Commercialization Center. My readers know my strong interest in how you build an effective, “defragged” entrepreneurial ecosystem and I was jazzed to see the great first steps that ECC is taking to do that for cleantech (broadly defined). Their charter is to build this for the entire intermountain region.

What are they doing right?

Engaging the right people (and not the wrong people). Other than a little of the usual nobody-loves-me, I’m-all-alone whining, this even included a nice cross-section of the “A Team” [see my “DEFRAG” post below] and deftly avoided the more negative voices. Idaho Commerce’s Jessie Speck can attest that with a positive vibe and the level of competence, we heard a level of candor that is rare and much, much appreciated! (Jessie made Idaho look good, btw.)

Focus on excellence. The competence level was terrific. People got to contribute where they add the most value, not necessarily what their job titles might suggest. I would be bowing deeply toward the various talented attendees but I can’t figure out how to bow in multiple directions (attendees came from CO, AZ, NM, MT, ID and NV and beyond).

Understand that it IS an ecosystem, interconnected, messy, noisy and dynamic. Ecosystems are more than a state of nature, they are also a trajectory. If you want to get from A to B, don’t you need a good idea where A is? And B? J In the various discussions, I can see from my notes some useful insights as to the current state of the ecosystem (and how we got here). We also got a few insights about where we want to go. (Where the “A team” wants to go is usually very telling.)

So what makes an ecosystem special?

One point that became crystal clear is that effective ecosystems don’t do 1 or 2 things differently, they do several important things differently that are decidedly different from the “usual.” And these different things are unavoidably disruptive. (Paul Ahlstrom’s closing keynote cheerfully suggested that the lean startup crowd hijack federal tech transfer. As you might guess, I was a WEE bit happy!) At best, these “different” features run completely counter to the conventional wisdom.

In my notes, I wrote something I stole from Utah’s Rob Wuebker, the narrative is completely different. The story of how things get done and why and by whom… is very different in effective ecosystems. Go back and re-read Brad Feld’s “Startup Communities”. (Look at the markers of a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem at http://bit.ly/EcoSys ... tell me these are “normal” for most communities, whether a city or an industry.

Robert Bell and his crew at ECC have a mandate to be disruptive. So far, they’ve been gentle (only one bureaucracy has yelled at them… so far) but things will be getting, um, “interesting.” J

Paul Ahlstrom

Co-author of lean book “Nail It Then Scale It”, VC/angel and another gentle disruptor, Paul closed the Energize event with some great insights, including a few on how Utah’s is mapping their ecosystem.

#1. It never ends.

#2. You’ve got to talk to the entrepreneurs; he mentioned over 140 interviews with Utah entrepreneurs, triangulated with multiple other mapping efforts, including help from the Kauffman Foundation ( Idaho, we could do that too.. interested?)

#3. Need a critical mass of entrepreneurial and innovative human capital.

#4. A major [emphasis on MAJOR] research university is necessary.

#5 The "ingredients” aren’t enough; you need to defrag the ecosystem.

#6. Identify the right players to defrag (what I’m calling the “A team” who reflect the 3 C’s: Competent, Connected, Collegial. I’m guessing that Paul would underline collegial.) ***

To Paul: Thanks! To the rest of you: Go add Paul’s book to your reading list.

And... again thanks!

In Jim Collins’ terms, sometimes you can’t get the wrong people off the bus, you have to build a new bus. Thanks to Robert, Mike and the rest for letting me (Jessie Speck too) on thise bus! We can’t wait to see this new bus move forward!

p.s. We also see how important it is to have events managed brilliantly - so major props to Social Enterprises of Portland - Stephanie Stettler & Jennifer Worcester [if they tell me more names, I'll edit this!]

***) Nobody is entitled to be involved with driving the ‘defrag’. Even the wrong people do get to be on the bus, just not at the outset. Isn’t it smarter to start with the highly competent, highly connected and highly collegial?

Be Careful What You Ask For? Or… “Lean AND Green”!

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 07:17:00 +0000

Be Careful What You Ask For? Or… “Lean AND Green”!

I’m packing for a trip to Utah for Energize 2013, a cool new energy entrepreneurship conference put on by the Department of Energy-supported Energy Commercialization Center at the U of Utah. It is going to be a rouser, if only for all the people who needed to meet in this space… and now they will.

I Love Learning!

Given a choice of speaking on growing ecosystems or getting to teach, it was no contest. And to once again help entrepreneurs to learn the lean startup model? And to get to turn them on to the latest tools and resources. OK. I’m in. Here are my slides (don’t worry, I’ll keep it experiential!)

[Don’t worry- the organizers expect me to share insights on ecosystems – check my prior blog entry and this (http://bit.ly/EcoSys) for a preview. And Idaho's Jessie Speck will handle those duties quite nicely!]

Hmm... 2013 is shaping up to be a very “lean” year! ;) Though I’m hoping that lean doesn’t extend to my income any more than it already does. ;)

January: I got to hang out with Steve Blank himself. He gave me “that” look – when are YOU going to do Lean Launchpad in Idaho? You’re the only one who could… Gulp.

No More Amateur Night... Even for Lean!

Even more interesting was the discussion around all of lean’s success… what’s the downside? A fast-growing issue is that it is all too easy to claim expertise. Too many faculty just hand out a copy of Alex Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas and wing it. They really don’t get the entrepreneurial side of it; they certainly don’t get the design thinking part of things. (Even at top schools, how many professors actually grok design thinking? Damned few. How many truly grok deep experiential learning? Even fewer.) If lean is to continue, we have to ensure that those teaching it have the right stuff. (By the way, check out Quipu Apps for a powerful online tool to support business model work. I am happy to show it off, if you like, Founder Michael Issa has a gem.)

April? Develop.Idaho! (Locals… you are going, yes?) http://www.slideshare.net/norriskrueger/developidaho

In May, it looks like I’m finally getting back to Cairo for Startup Weekend Giza… holy mackerel! My Finnish friends and I did a lean/biz model bootcamp during Global Entrepreneurship Week and it was remarkable how quickly they took to it. Some alumni of that class are now doing SW Giza. (I’m hoping to talk a little ecosystem again there too.) https://www.facebook.com/SWGiza

Also in May is the CCSBE conference in Victoria, BC. I hope that I am again “forced” to fly in via Kenmore Air, the seaplane company where we’ll be talking ‘lean’ as part of the ICSB’s new initiative to help our colleagues do cutting-edge online training (www.oleconference.com)

At the end of May, the European Council for Small Business launches “3EC” a major research conference on entrepreneurship education where my Danish colleague Franziska Günzel & I have maybe the first research paper on purposeful experimentation (a/k/a lean). This is turning out to be an insane research area; it’s so much fun surfing the leading edge of the wave!

Franziska & I will present another version of this paper – initially titled “Don’t TASE Me, BRO*” –at the International Council for Small Business annual conference this summer. (If any of you want to see updated versions of this work, ping me & I will send it along.)

In August, though, we have maybe THE ultimate lean workshop. Imagine some of THE leading lights of lean biz model work showing how it applies to social ventures and sustainability. The best minds in social entrepreneurship meet top facilitators in lean. If this doesn’t move the needle, I don’t know what will! [Check out my friends in this: http://www.slideshare.net/norriskrueger/pdw-proposal-15297 ]

There’s more in 2013 for “lean” – NACCE, World Entrepreneurship Forum, etc. but this is enough to get me very, very excited.

p.s. I would also be very remiss if I did not point out that Isaac Newton was right. If I’m seeing farther, it’s because I stand on the shoulders of giants. And some of them are my colleagues and co-authors: Franziska & Jessie, Gabi Kaffka, Suresh Kumar, Ayman Tarabishy & Geoff Archer.. and wait till I tell you what Les Hayes iw roking on! PLEASE check the links for the others involved in these adventures: Every one is a rock star (some just don’t know it yet!)

And the Energize 2013 lean slides? http://www.slideshare.net/norriskrueger/energize-2013-slides

Entrepreneurship Comes in Many Flavors

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 06:04:00 +0000

Entrepreneurship Comes in Many Flavors

Last weekend it struck me that great entrepreneurial thinking shows up in amazing places. I was enjoying the newly re-opened hot springs up in Idaho City. Wyatt Sharpley has developed a wonderful place ("The Springs") to go relax under the stars. While there, I ran into Anne McDonald, one of the great talents at Boise's remarkable Red Light Variety Show. Not sure i can easily describe it: old-school burlesque [no nudity] meets 21st century comedy. Funny as hell. Anyway, I'd put the RLVS up against anybody, just as I'd put The Springs up against other hot springs in Idaho.

Cultural/arts entrepreneurship. Outdoors entrepreneurship. Aren't these two areas where Idaho should rock? Where any community could build distinctive competences?

Both are great stories of entrepreneurship done right. Yes, both are driven by artistic sensibilities that are what's salient on first impression. But too often, artists can't find ways to fully connect with the audience. "Here's what you should want."

These two are exceptions. Two very different settings but in both... I felt almost like family. From Day One. To completely embrace your customers without compromising your artistic vision? We all can learn from entrepreneurs like these!

And, yes, there is considerable innovation and technology in both operations, whether handling insanely hot water or the insanely clever props for RLVS.

But if you must talk "tech" - there is still time to get tickets to develop.idaho (and Tech Cocktail). When develop.idaho debuted in 2011, people kept asking me why I had such a big grin. Why? Because this exactly the kind of event that shows up in a healthy ecosystem.

The Idaho Software Alliance brought this together in a solidly bottom-up fashion. Matt Rissell and Martin Hambalek could have followed their own "artistic sensibilities" in designing the program but (just as Wyatt & RLVS) they tapped into what the audience wanted. It's very easy to say "here's what you need. " You may even be correct. But to deliver that AND to deliver what the audience is hungry for (often without even being aware they crave it?) That is powerful.

It is probably not surprising that Martin & Matt are fellow cult members, er, passionate aficionados of the lean startup model: Always test your assumptions about your customers!
[Next post will be on the power of lean]

[I must admit that I was amused by the Important Players who were not there in 2011. And, no, they weren't out of town. :) And at least one speaker lobbed a hand grenade that I appreciated. It's a sign that Idaho's economy grew up a bit.]

Someone yelled at me today that I need to get back to the classroom (they are correct, I miss it more every day) soooo.....
Here's your homework!
1. go to www.thespringsid.com and check out Wyatt's decadent geothermal spa. (Guys, if you're in the doghouse...hint, hint)
2. go to http://www.redlightvarietyshow.com/rlvs-boise/RLVS.html and take a look... don't tell them but I know more than a few solid Republicans who love it. It's not smutty**, it's hilarious! [https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Red-Light-Variety-Show/117879393589]
and most of all
3. Sign up for develop.idaho (and the ensuing Tech Cocktail showcasing local brainiac entrepreneurs) April 17.
[http://software.idahotechcouncil.org/develop.idaho ]

You WILL thank me.

(you can thank me either by buying me a drink at Tech Cocktail or... by reading some more of my blog posts right below this, like
How to DEFRAG your Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
The Copernican Revolution in Entrepreneurship
etc.
I'm still hungry for feedback!)

** ok, it's a bit racy but if this middle-aged, middle-class small-town straight white guy can dig it... :)

How to Defrag Your Entrepreneurial Ecosystem!

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 07:27:00 +0000

DEFRAG:
Developing Entrepreneurial Framework for Resilience And Growth

note: Have you read Brad Feld's Startup Communities**? (DEFRAG meets all 4 of his factors)

“Get the right people on the bus in the right seats. Get the right people on and the wrong people off.” – Jim Collins

“Make sure you really know where the bus is starting and where it’s going.” - Norris

There are so many people who have inspired and encouraged this work - Peter Vogel and some great new friends at the World Entrepreneurship Forum, ICSB/USASBE/NCIIA and Academy colleagues, friends in economic development and most assuredly from the entrepreneurial community worldwide... you know who you are. Thanks. The fact this works is a credit to you!

First… how to fix your ecosystem…. BADLY

A healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem has multiple characteristics that are markers of how it’s growing or not. If you look at http://bit.ly/EcoSys you’ll see a lengthy list but Brad Feld’s book points out some key pathologies, so let’s start with the four key “Brad Feld Discoveries”

bfd1. Is the defragging of the ecosystem being led by people who actually understand entrepreneurs? Especially led by the entrepreneurial community itself? Or by... VIPs?

(Or are there self-styled experts who don’t ‘get’ the entrepreneurial mindset? The most frequent version of this is bringing together the key institutions, the ‘power players’ –are the power players helping the entrepreneurial community implement their vision or are they dictating it, even inadvertently?)

bfd2. Are the efforts inclusive? Is there something for different types of entrepreneurs? We need entrepreneurial thinking to blossom all through the ecosystem. In different industries (high tech and low tech), in different locations (urban and rural) in different strategies (high-growth and low-growth), in different life cycle stages, even for small, medium and large firms? Nonprofits/social ventures? Public sector? (Well, we can dream, eh?)

bfd3. Is there a rallying point where everyone can look to? This can take many forms but a good place to start is simply twofold:

The Bully Pulpit: Is the entrepreneurial ‘gospel’ being preached all through the ecosystem?

Strategy not Tactics: There actually IS a cohesive strategy, a comprehensive framework to help guide bottom-up efforts? (Or is there an emphasis on thinking up cool tactics that are sexy and have worked elsewhere but need not fit what the ecosystem really needs?)

bfd4. Are you willing to embrace that this is a long-term proposition? No matter how brilliant we might be now, it will likely be decades before we are really rolling. Again, do you have a cohesive, comprehensive strategy for entrepreneurship development? (a/k/a “Comprehensive Entrepreneurship Development System” to ‘fly cover’ for and support bottom-up efforts.) Or is there no committed strategy that we can hold our leaders to?

A few other pathologies of note before we dive in…

Ecosystems are COMPLICATED! We need to be sure that we consider the dynamics – what are the trends? How is everything interconnected? Dynamically? Or are you just making lists of all the participants in the ecosystem? ^A Remember: what really matters are the INtangible elements of the ecosystem, not tangible.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data tells us that over time and across countries, there are two predictors of increased entrepreneurial activity. These are the basis of the FIRE model of entrepreneurial development used across the globe:

Entrepreneurial Human Capital: How many have the mindset… really?

F: Foster the entrepreneurial mindset broadly & deeply

I: Inspire the next generation of ideas

Entrepreneurial Social Capital: How interconnected is the ecosystem and how well does it support entrepreneurial learning?

R: Revitalize (Entrepreneurialize!) Communities and Organizations

E: Enhance and Encourage the Connectors

Entrepreneurial Processes: Similarly, do we have the right processes in place?^B Healthy ecosystems have great processes that tend to be completely unlike what 99% of communities do. If you are not frightening your mayor, you are failing. Sorry, but bureaucratic mechanisms do NOT generate entrepreneurial outcomes.

Entrepreneurial People: Start with the people who really get the expert entrepreneurial mindset. If they aren’t a great entrepreneur, they better be pretty special. The 3 C’s: Are they…

Competent at mission-critical ecosystem tasks

[being really good isn’t enough, are they the best at these tasks?]

Connected – locally, yes, but have access to national/global resources/intel

[this is often a great marker of competence.. what do the nation’s best think?]

Collegial – have you ever screwed over someone, played silly turf games?

[defragging the ecosystem means that roles will change significantly and job titles, mission statements, history and personal preferences mean nothing. At the outset, we need to keep the wrong people off the bus and these definitely qualify.

NOTE: Everyone gets to be on the bus. Brad points out inclusivity is pretty much mandatory.]

Kwitcherbitchin: Economic developers have long known that you start with what you have and quit worrying about what you don’t have (if you really need something, it will be evident.)

Do You Know What You Really, Really Want? And by “you”, I mean the entrepreneurial community, not those who are telling you what they think you want.

No More Amateur Night: Experts not "experts." The world needs smart, passionate amateurs. But not driving the bus. An example…

Ideation or Implementation? In entrepreneurship, in technology commercialization, and here, there’s a dirty little secret: Good ideas are a dime a dozen. Even in rural Kazakhstan, you can find great ideas. What is scarce and what adds 90%+ of the value? Implementers. Even Silicon Valley sees a shortage of people who can execute.

Corollary: Until you have a comprehensive strategy and until you have mapped the cosystem and held your listening sessions, brainstorming can be pointless, premature and (worse) distracting from the key tasks at hand.

So….. what ARE the key tasks for defragging a local ecosystem? Not just Idaho, but anywhere?

Entrepreneurial Ecosystems' #1 Problem? (including Idaho??)

Resources are simply not well-aligned to the key tasks at hand (duplication, gaps, and especially misdeployment, etc.)

Issue 1: Alignment

Jim Collins: Progress requires "getting the right people on the bus... and in the right seats." This is the “right seats” part of the equation.

Getting the right people in the right seats... hard

Getting the right people onboard in the first place.... harder

Getting wrong people OFF the bus (for now)... hardest of all

[far easier to initially keep them off the bus]

But before we can really do this, we need to better understand where the ‘bus’ is going…

Entrepreneurial Ecosystems' #2 Problem? (including Idaho??)

If we’re trying to get from ‘A’ to ‘B’, wouldn’t it help to understand ‘A’ and ‘B’?

We need to thoroughly understand where we are now (mapping and metrics)

We also need a deep, rich understanding of where the entrepreneurial community wants to go.

Issue 2: Roadmapping

We know proven practices to get from Point A to Point B

But we don't really know Point A...

...let alone Point B

So shouldn’t we immediately get busy and….

* We need to really map where we are (A) and

* We need to listen to the entrepreneurial community in person (B)

So what do we need to do now?

* Let's really map out our 'Point A' (current ecosystem)

* And really understand what the entrepreneurial community wants (Point B)

DEFRAG Initiative: Key Tasks

Key Task #1: Identify* / Convene "A Team"

(competent, collaborative, connected locally, connected globally)

Professional, inclusive; p.s. local "A Team" already identified

Key Task #2a: A-Team to Align Resources to Key Tasks/Tactics

(distinctive competences not core competences)

Key Task #2b: A-Team to Map Ecosystem (Point A, Point B)

Assess current conditions – use Peter Vogel’s ecosystem instrument

Assess current processes/trends – ecosystem markers (bit.ly/EcoSys)

Large-sample surveys of entrepreneurial community (N>2,000?)

Existing entrepreneurs

Potential entrepreneurs

Use surveys to assess perceptions of ecosystem

Build map using the above plus Isenberg’s 6-fold typology

Key Task #2c: Listening Sessions with Entrepreneurial Community

State-wide, inclusive, bottom-up (“entrepreneurs only”)

Appreciative inquiry tools plus asset-based ec dev tools

Role model: NCRE Rural Entrepreneurship Listening Sessions [link?]

Now What?

I started out with all the things that we must and must not do… but I think they are mostly common sense once you embrace the complexity and dynamics and interconnectivity of entrepreneurial ecosystems (and all the people and organizations caught up in it, making it happen!) A few vested interests will be annoyed but… this IS disruptive technology.

Basically, we need an overarching strategic framework that doesn’t dictate but does facilitate bottom-up initiatives. One that provides both ‘cover’ and commitment to the initiatives. Molding entrepreneurial champions is a lot like molding entrepreneurs. The DEFRAG model includes such a framework, simple and comprehensive (the FIRE model).

“Point A” to “Point B”: Healthy ecosystems have a pretty good, shared sense of where they are and where they want to go. Most communities have either no map, multiple maps or a crappy map. (Let’s be different, ok?) Likewise, even fewer communities have actually listened to the entrepreneurial community. Vox Entrepreneurii? Let’s do that too.

Alignment (distinctive competence not core competence: In healthy local economies, the support activities are done by those who add the most value. It may not be what they’re best at and pretty likely not what they wanted to do, but it IS where they make the biggest difference for the ecosystem. We need the “A Team” for that but more important, we need this led by organizations that are clearly neutral-turf, fair-broker (no enemies, plenty of friends). We’ve already started on this too.

Remember: We have the tools, proven globally. We have the "A team" identified. But it won't be easy.

Want in? (check the 3 C’s above)

Entrepreneurially yours,

Norris

End notes…

^A to capture interconnectivity/dynamics

Key Elements of the Ecosystem to Identify

Connectors - who is getting people together...proactively?

Controllers - who are gatekeepers for key resources?

also

Pulse-Takers - who is keeping track of how we're doing?

Mavens - who's out there that actually understands all this?

^B 5 focus areas for ecosystem processes: Policy Formulation; Networking & Collaboration; Entrepreneurial Human Capital; Communication; Governance / Leadership

^C Isenberg’s ecosystem map has 6 key participant categories (static but helpful)

** if not, why not? Cheap on Amazon/B&N!

The Copernican Revolutions in Entrepreneurship

noreply@blogger.com (Norris Krueger) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 19:44:00 +0000

The Copernican Revolutions in Entrepreneurship

February celebrated Copernicus's 540th birthday and it got me to thinking.

I have always wanted to write about the Copernican Revolution in entrepreneurship. Copernicus is famed for showing us that the universe as heliocentric not geocentric, but his vision grew from multiple new assumptions about the nature of things.

The result is more than "the earth goes around the sun"; it was a whole new way of looking at the world. I would argue that the last couple of years we have seen nothing less than a Copernican revolution in our understanding of entrepreneurship.

And like Copernicus, this is already upsetting the apple cart in ways both obvious and subtle.

Disruption is always messy but consider this. Even the usual entrepreneurship education is disruptive, now imagine how the best entrepreneurship training would be off-the-chart disruptive. (Do you want to be the one to tell the vast majority that they are letting down their community and their students?)

Consider the disruption already sweeping over higher ed and how oblivous/defensive most institutions are. Online education is wreaking havoc and it's the rare school that knows how to respond. (How can they, when they can't... won't... see the disruption? Clay Christensen 101, eh?)

Copernican Entrepreneurship
In entrepreneurship: we see revolutions on multiple fronts. Let's start with this

The Revolution in Entrepreneurial Education:
the New Copernican Assumptions

1) teaching <<<< learning
Earth-centric: Teaching (and teachers) is central
Sun-centric: Learning (and learners) is central***

2) Not knowledge, not skills... Mindset!
Entrepreneurship is about action AND the mindset that facilitates action. (Knowledge and skills are tools but it's that deeper mindset that truly matters)

3) Think novice ---> expert
Therefore, growing a more expert mindset is critical (again, not knowing "stuff" but seeing the world differently)

4) Experiential NOT "hands-on"
Changing mindsets requires deeply experiential learning [note: Learning NOT Teaching]

4) The entrepreneurial ecosystem matters
The best way to know if you have a healthy "entrepreneurial ecosystem" [the new Copernican cosmology!] is: Are we encouraging people to see more/better opportunities to create value for others? Are we providing multiple pathways for people to learn to think like expert entrepreneurs?

What does the expert entrepreneurial mindset look like? Here's a hint:
If the heart of entrepreneurship is acting on opportunities and
the head of entrepreneurship is seeing actionable opportunities, then
the soul of entrepreneurship is understanding that "opportunity" is about creating value... for others!

Bonus for reading this far: Fun analogy from my friend Helge Lobler on piano players
"Think about how a traditional MBA program would educate piano players: they would give lectures, they would hand out syllabuses, the would have written exams and progressive programs would have group work on presentations on how to play a piano – wow. But can anyone really play a piano after enjoying (?) the program?"

He's being a bit unfair... but not by much. You have to go all in with true experiential learning. All. in. Think of how you become a chess master. Yes, you will play a lot (and study a lot) but how do you ensure that learners take away the right lessons from their experiences? You need the help of other chess masters, especially grandmasters. So if we are to going to grow :"chess masters" in entrepreneurship... how do we do that? Stay tuned!

My next posts will address:

1) "Entrepreneurial Ecosystems 101" - what we have learned recently that is game-changing. (If you read Brad Feld's book Startup Communities, you'll know what is coming. if you haven't read it, do so. Now. :) And this is critical for growing the entrepreneurial mindset!

2) "Entrepreneurial Chess Masters" - I've written on this before but it's time to step up and get serious about entrepreneurial learning. NOW!

*** of course, kindergarten teachers have only known this for, what, 100 years? :)

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