The Entrepreneur ecosystem is exploding in Australia

The level of activity across all layers of the entrepreneurial ecosystem is accelerating, and it’s scaling up fast. Five years ago we had a few co-working spaces, limited funding and a handful of accelerators. Today we have the full stack, from idea stage University programs, through co-working, incubators, top-tier global accelerators, angels and substantial VC’s. Even the government is turning talking in funding.

How to amplify the Network

I recently watched the livesteam of Brad Feld talking at a University in Adelaide with some of the top local venture , angel and accelerator talent in attendance. Brad made some interesting points during his talk that best sums up the impact of all this activity and wisdom on how to amplify it. Here’s some insight that stuck with me.

The innovation ecosystem needs feeders and leaders. Both are important but

remember that the entrepreneurs are leaders.

• Always take the long term view, success takes time.
• Innovation takes patience. Most VC is 7 years to a return if you’re lucky, Startups are 10 years. Be patient.
• When working with Entrepreneurs, remember that your rhythm is different. Your business probably has a quarterly rhythm. Startups work on much shorter timeframes with a weekly or monthly rhythm, so respect these when working with each other.
• Take a 20 year view for your startup community.
• Stay obsessed with diversity across all dimensions. Not only obvious diversity, but about diversity of experience, thought, talent and frame of reference .
• Engage with anyone at any level to create a vibrant startup community. This also applies top feeders and leaders. Make your language match startups.

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

Network Nodes and Growth

Give before you get. Enter into a relationship non-transactionally to get the best longer term benefit for the ecosystem. I’ve experienced this each time I’ve travelled to the Bay Area and wrote about it here.

• Network Power is the Value of information flowing across the links X the number of links. This really resonated with me.
• Communities are not competitors . Each City’s node adds more power to the network. It’s not a zero sum game.
• Ignore the macro trends. Focus on your startup and build something and impact the network as an active node.
• For a vibrant community you need diversity of thought. You need hippies and business. This is why San Francisco and others work so well. Innovation comes from the collision of the creative class, scientists, engineers, free thinkers, artists.
• Figure out how connectors can plug companies into the entrepreneurial network as a node that adds value.
• Ask yourself: How can you plug your business into the startup community?
• Density i.e, the number of startups per capita matters.
• VC’s are not the gatekeepers. They are simply another node in the network.
• Act as a node connector every day.

“Investing is startups is for-profit philanthropy”

— @bfeld — http://feld.com

More Ecosystem building blocks

I love the accelerating level of activity across all layers of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Even the Federal government is in on the innovation game, and the more cynical may say it’s grandstanding, but the message is clearly contributing to the impact. It’s never only about the blabbing and talking, but always about doing and execution, and this is happening rapidly.

I attended the AFR Top Innovator Awards in August 2016 and it was fascinating to see the growth of the innovation ecosystem, accelerating scale of interest and activity.

Congratulations to the Top 50 companies, but I’m more interested in the 950 that didn’t make the list, including us. Each of these companies has shown clearly that they are participating in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and willing to have a seat at the table.

The important takeaway for me is the accelerating scale of interest and activity in this space.

Two weeks prior I was at the Melbourne Entrepreneurship Gala hosted by the Melbourne University Accelerator Program, with over 500 people from Government , Business, Startups and investors, and on 1 September we had the iAwards attracting 1000 people.

Between all this I attended dinner hosted by the Victorian Government Startup program, LaunchVic. We hosted a successful and globally-scaled US based accelerator for dinner. The accelerator is considering setting up in Australia and scouting for the best City ecosystem.

I’ve been in the Australian startup and entrepreneurship ecosystem since 2010, and there were barely any co-working spaces, investors or accelerators to speak of. I’m encouraged to see Australia taking innovation seriously and attracting excellent talent and experience.

Now we need some big exits to keep the talent in the country and we’ll be well on our way to making impact on a global scale. Or at least move away from our reliance on digging stuff out of the ground and inflating house prices ;-)

☞ Please tap or click “♥︎” to recommend this article to others.