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Yesterday, Kauffman Foundation released a study that provided empirical support for the Boulder Thesis that I came up with in my book Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City.
The study is excellent if you are interested in this topic and can be read at ad “Think Locally, Act Locally: Building a Robust Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.”
Kauffman did a study of 1 Million Cups, a community-building program that was launched at Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City and is expanding rapidly around the U.S.. It’s now in 33 communities in 21 states. Colorado has two – a 1 Million Cups in Denver and 1 Million Cups in Fort Collins. 1 Million Cups Denver was also a recipient of one of the first Startup Colorado Community Fund grants.
The study found:
- Entrepreneurship is a local phenomenon.
- Entrepreneurs follow local entrepreneurs.
- Local networks thicken over time.
- Entrepreneurial demand is high for peer-based learning and networking.
- Different programs reach different entrepreneurs.
In the report, Kauffman lined this up clearly against the Boulder Thesis, which, if you don’t know it, is:
- Entrepreneurs must lead the startup community.
- The leaders must have a long-term commitment.
- The startup community must be inclusive of anyone who wants to participate in it.
- The startup community must have continual activities that engage the entire entrepreneurial stack.
Or, if you are a video person and want to go a little deeper, take a look at the great StartupVille video Kauffman did when I released the book as part of their Sketchbook series.
I gave a 30 minute interview on this and other topics at the Atlanta Tech Village yesterday – nice summary from David Cummings. And there was a good student survey at showing Chicago and the Midwest as an Evolving Hub for Entrepreneurship.
This story originally appeared on Brad Feld.
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Two theses for building an entrepreneurial ecosystem in your community
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