1. The Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
Part 3:
Dr. Michael R. Burcham
10 Critical Steps in
Building an e. michael@michaelburcham.com
Entrepreneurial w.
t.
www.michaelburcham.com
www.twitter.com/michaelrburcham
Ecosystem f. www.facebook.com/michael.r.burcham
l. www.linkedin/in/michaelburcham

2. 1
Building an Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
Step
Leadership:
Change doesn’t happen without a champion, nor will a community reinvent
its economy overnight! Leadership can come from the public or private
sector – from an individual or a group – but it requires someone to:
• Visualize the result
• Make it real. Execute!
• Begin to identify the stakeholders & resources needed to move forward
Leadership needs to be sustained and committed to the long term. The
work will extend beyond the term of an elected official, often requiring
decades to succeed.

3. 2
Building an Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
Step
Engage Stakeholders Early in a Conversation
Get together a small but powerful coalition of committed leaders. Engage
the community in Intentional Conversation about what you wish to
accomplish, the opportunity and the process to engage all the key
stakeholders:
• Entrepreneurs
• Investors & Lenders
• Universities and Educational Leaders
• Community Leaders and Government Officials
• Accelerators, Incubators, SBA, SCORE and Other Entrepreneurship
Development Organizations
• Business Community & Mentors

4. 3
Building an Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
Step
Align Your Community Vision for Success
One needs to know where one is going in order to get there! Get a clear
focus on realistic and accessible entrepreneurship for your community.
• Ensure your definitions of “success” match – then set measurable goals
and objectives for your market
• Allocate the financial resources required. We used public & private
match dollars (goal of 50% public dollars / 50% private).
• Put together a dedicated team of “results oriented” individuals who
embody the entrepreneurial spirit and make them accountable for
results.
• Focus on the critical areas for success: flow of
startups, capital, mentors, and local businesses willing to be the 1st
customers.

5. 4
Building an Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
Step
Secure Community Support: $ and Time
• Engage investor, business and community partner support in both
dollars and time. Actions are more important than words.
• Become the “face” of entrepreneurship in your community – presenting
to every organized group and function with whom you can get an
audience. Solicit their engagement and active support.

6. 5
Building an Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
Step
Identify a “Front Door” for Entrepreneurs
• It’s important to identify for your community where one can find the front
door for entrepreneurship.
• This doesn’t necessarily mean that all the resources are under roof. It
does, however, require that you have a physical or virtual location
through which startups can gain access, identify community
resources,and network with the individuals who can help transform their
idea into a real business.

7. 6
Building an Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
Step
Concentrate Your Efforts on the Essential Ingredients for Success
• Process for Screening Ideas
• Identifying High Growth Opportunities
• Engagement by Seasoned / Successful Entrepreneurs
• Business Modeling
• Seed Capital
• Training and Mentoring
• Startup Tools

8. 7
Building an Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
Step
Identify & Support the “Gazelles”
• While being as inclusive as possible, the true drivers of change in a
community are the growth-oriented companies. These fast growing
organizations create jobs, enrich the local economy and raise awareness
of the community’s growing ecosystem. As these startups have
success, they both inspire others to “dare to dream” and become drivers
of change.
• We allocate our resources based upon the opportunity and the strength
of the concept brought by the entrepreneur.
– We rank the startups we meet as “A’s, B’s, and C’s”
– Focus the majority of our time on the “A’s”

9. 8
Building an Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
Step
Address The “Culture”
Anything you can do to help accelerate specific success stories will help
stimulate your entrepreneurial ecosystem. Remember that success breeds
success. Successful entrepreneurs are often the mentors, board
members, and angel investors of early startups.
The ecosystem thrives in a culture that:
• Encourages risk taking
• Legitimizes the value of launching a business
• Celebrates the startup process and the creation of a new business
• Encourage diversity and differing views – entrepreneurship is inherently
a contrarian activity!

10. 8
Building an Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem …continued
Step
Address The “Culture”
Regular gatherings and events that bring entrepreneurs together with
other components of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem can be a powerful
way to begin to transform your community
• Meet ups
• Pitch Days
• Forums and Educational Events
• Startup Weekends

11. 9
Building an Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
Step
Connect and Create A Funding Pipeline
The access to capital will be the “make or break” issue at some point. Most
entrepreneurs bootstrap their own early capital – but often, having some
small seed or angel capital can make the difference in getting a prototype
finished to share with early adopter customers.
Things to do:
• Identify sources of seed capital ($5,000 - $25,000)
• Identify and get to know any area angel investors
• Be sure to link your activity into the larger investment community –
perhaps even outside your community or state

12. 10
Building an Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
Step
Build Connections Between the Large Companies & Startups
• Don’t push the idea of “clusters” too hard. Every government seems to
have a cluster strategy and believes it will create entrepreneurial success
– that’s rarely the case.
• Lasting business clusters are built around entrepreneurs. It’s the
entrepreneurs who create business and industry presence in a
community – simply naming a “cluster” does not breed successful
entrepreneurship.
• Focus your energy on linking startups in your community with the larger
industries – engage them. Discuss innovation and industry
transformation, technology and tools. New ideas, startups and
relationships will likely emerge. This helps get the 1st customers for new
businesses – Locally!