Peace Through Entrepreneurship: Investing in a Startup Culture for Security and Development by Steven R. Koltai

Author:Steven R. Koltai
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
Published: 2016-08-29T14:00:00+00:00

The Six + Six Model

If we want to influence entrepreneurship ecosystems, we need a framework to organize our analysis and plan our attack. My approach to ecosystems is the Six + Six Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Model (see figure 7-1). Six + Six presumes that no single factor alone can move the needle on entrepreneurship: not funding, not regulatory reforms. Rather, entrepreneurs thrive when multiple sectors and actors consciously work together to develop a supportive environment. NGOs, foundations, academia, investors, governments, and corporations all need to play some role in identifying, training, connecting and sustaining, funding, enabling (through public policy), and celebrating entrepreneurs.

Let us look at the six pillars that capture what an ecosystem is about. First, identify. Entrepreneurs need to get on an investor’s radar screen, whether that investor is a Sand Hill Road VC, a low-profile angel investor, or a captain of industry in a poor country. A robust ecosystem will do a good and efficient job of bringing investors to Hewlett and Packard’s garage. MEST actively runs an intensive recruitment and application process to identify promising entrepreneurs for its two-year program, and then invests (both money and mentorship) in a select few that develop a good idea and make a good pitch. Business plan competitions are a great way to cast a wide net. The next chapter discusses the best ways to run business plan competitions, but generally speaking, aggregating a large number of startup teams and enabling them to pitch their companies is a good way to shake the tree and find a community’s entrepreneurs.

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