08 Ecosystems

agglomeration economies

• factors outside an organization within a region contribute to the firms’ competitive advantage

• presence of multiple competing and cooperating firms in a region…

  • helps to attract and train talent

  • leads to knowledge spillovers and co-specialization

  • enables innovation

definition entrepreneurial ecosystem

• precursor concepts: regional clusters and regional innovations systems

• Marshall (1920): factors outside an organization within a region contribute to firms competitive advantage

  • agglomeration economies

• presence of multiple competing/cooperating firms in a region helps to attract and train talent, leads to knowledge spillovers and co-spezialisations and enabeling innovation

• ecosystems shift focus towards the unique needs and trajectories of innovative, high growth ventures

characteristics ecosystems (5)

• complex

• self-regulating

• dynamic

• comprising various actors and relation

• hard to design

entrepreneurial ecosystems key elements

• cultural attributes: underlying beliefs and outlooks about entrepreneurship

  • e.g. supportive culture, histories of entrepreneurship

• social attributes: resources composed of or acquired through relationships

  • e.g. networks, worker talent, mentors and role models, investment capital

• ‘material‘ attributes: local presence of key actors and institutions

  • e.g. policies, universities, infrastructure, open markets, support services

entrepreneurial ecosystems influence of key elements

support: cultural 🠒 social 🠒 material

reenforcement: material 🠒 social 🠒 cultural

entrepreneurial ecosystems policy implications

• target connecting elements in ecosystems to achieve systemic effects

• relational rather than transactional support

• state support for entrepreneurs and “connectors” (in a leading role)

• offer a mix of funding sources to foster varieties of entrepreneurship

• focus on blockbuster entrepreneurs

• focus on technologies rather than industries

• foster open innovation infrastructures

mechanisms enabling the emergence of fields

example: Berlin design field

• spaces: facilitate encounters, provide affordances

  • in the upperground (formal institutions: firms, agencies, universities, government)

• places: confer legitimacy, anchor identity

  • in the middleground (communities and intermediary structures)

• events: synchronize attention, create categories

  • in the underground (individual creators: informal, often invisible, where ideas appear first)

leverage in entrepreneurial ecosystems

• uniqueness of entrepreneurial ecosystems and their participants are often obscured

• macro–micro linkages of entrepreneurial ecosystems are undertheorized

• practical implications of entrepreneurial ecosystems research for entrepreneurs are often unclear

rapid growth ideology

consequences of uncontrolled regional growth

• inequality

• gentrification

• environmental destruction

• overstretching of local infrastructure

“gazelle” venture

high-growth entrepreneurial venture with positive structural impact

“muppet” venture

small-scale self-employment venture fostering limited economic prosperity