I have spent the last 8 years living in Tulsa, Oklahoma after moving from my hometown of San Jose, California. Following a Mayoral appointment to Chair of Entrepreneurial Initiatives at the City of Tulsa in 2006, a small team of us began the process of actively building an entrepreneurial ecosystem. This Slidedeck shares some of the lessons I have learned from the process. Please feel free to contact me to learn more.

1. 10 Lessons For
Building An
Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem In Your
Community
by Sean Griffin
Entrepreneurial Catalyst Dude
@seankgriffin

2. A Global Movement Is Brewing

3. Entrepreneurship = Freedom

4. Entering 6th Year Of Conscious
Ecosystem Development In Tulsa

5. Learning Through
Experimentation

6. Lesson #1
Act With An Entrepreneurial Mindset
Be An Entrepreneurial Ecosystem StartUp.

7. Lesson #2
Work With A Small Dedicated Team
Focus On Human Capital Development & People Collecting.

8. Lesson #3
Let Entrepreneurs Lead
Entrepreneurs Know What Entrepreneurs Need.

9. Lesson #4
Tailor To Strengths Of The Region
Don’t Try To Be Silicon Valley or Something You Are Not.

10. Lesson #5
Focus On The Needs Of Entrepreneurs
Meet Entrepreneurs Where They Are In Their Business Building Cycle.

11. Lesson #6
Engage & Enroll Service Providers
Get As Many People On Board As Possible.

12. Lesson #7
Bottom Up, Not Top Down
You Cannot Oversight or Umbrella Entrepreneurs.

13. Lesson #8
Business Model Coaching & Mentoring
Coach Bootstrapping, Lean, & Accelerate To Market Techniques.

14. Lesson #9
Recognize & Reward Entrepreneurs
Promote Entrepreneurial Behavior. Entrepreneurs Grow Entrepreneurs.

15. Lesson #10
Not All About Technology Companies
Help Non-Tech Companies Use Technology For Increased Competiveness.

16. From 1980–2005, Firms Less
Than Five Years Old
Accounted For All Net Job
Growth In The
United States.
Business Dynamics Statistics Briefing: Jobs Created from Business Startups in the
United States, January 2009

17. New Companies Add An Average
Of 3 Million Jobs In Their
First Year, While Older Companies
Lose 1 Million Jobs Annually.
The Importance of Startups in Job Creation and Job Destruction, July 2010

18. 565,00 New Businesses Are Created
Each Month. 3,000 Of These Are
High Growth Companies. At The End
Of The Year Only 300 Are Still
Operating. At The End Of Five Years
Only 30 Are Operating.
Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity 1996-2010, March 2011

19. Stop Talking.
Start Doing!

20. Sean@BizXe.com
@SeanKGriffin