This presentation defines the concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems and their common attributes; identifies in which ways they can be unique; explores the cases of Silicon Valley (California, USA) and Cambridge (UK); and presents the case of the growing startup scene in Cyprus (a European member state and island in the Mediterranean).

1. Entrepreneurial
Ecosystems.
Prepared by Michael Tyrimos

2. Defining an
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem/Cluster
A set of interconnected:
§ Entrepreneurial actors
§ Organizations
§ Institutions
§ Processes
which formally and informally coalesce to:
§ Connect
§ Mediate
§ Govern
- the performance within the local entrepreneurial environment
(Definition by Prof. Colin Mason and Dr. Ross Brown, at OECD)

3. Meet Silicon Valley

5. Case 1
Silicon Valley
Facts that defined the creation of Silicon Valley:
§ Its development started in early 20th century at the
Santa Clara agricultural region in California, US
§ The contribution of the US Air Force was pivotal
towards the region’s development
§ This led exchange of knowledge, flexible work
ethos and specialization
§ Soon the region made leaps towards the creation
of the semiconductor industry

7. Case 1
Silicon Valley (Cont.)
§ Fairchild Semiconductors is created and leads to the birth of
pioneers (Intel, HP)
§ The region becomes heavily concentrated by technology experts,
who exchanged knowledge and innovated
§ Significant initial population increase: 1940 to 1980 à 175 k to 1,25 m
(Sexenian, 1985)
§ University-industry relations are evident: Stanford, Berkley and
others
§ In the 1980s the microcomputer industry begins to boom
§ Silicon Valley outperforms the significant and established tech-
cluster of Boston’s Route 128

8. Source:
Saxenian,
1996

9. Yes, clusters/ecosystems
diversify

10. *
Interes)ng
fact:
Venture
capital
in
2014
the
US
investment
hit
its
highest
levels
since
the
first
quarter
of
2001
–
WSJ
The
focus
‘shi5s’
from
semiconductors
to
microcomputers,
to
so5ware
and
then
the
internet

11. What
is
currently
trending?-­‐
Investments
by
industry
2012
-­‐
14
–
Source:
Fenwick
&
West
LLP,
2014
(analyzed
174
venture
financings
by
companies
headquartered
in
Silicon
Valley)

13. Could the Silicon Valley model
be recreated in other regions?

14. The ‘recipe(s)’ to make an
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem/Cluster
§ Policies and incentives to support investors and
entrepreneurs (Porter and Stern, 2001) – E.g.: Seed
Enterprise Investment Scheme in UK
§ The right policies matter, else the wrong policies can
harm the cluster (Chatterji, Glaeser & Kerr, 2013)
§ Geographical concentration of individuals with common
interests, specialization and also ancillary economies
(Krugman, 2001)
§ Cooperation between the public and private sectors
(Bresnhan, Gambardella & Saxenian, 2001)

15. The ‘recipe(s)’ to make an
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem/Cluster
§ Openness in exchange of ideas and knowledge
(McEvily & Zaheer, 2003)
§ “Far from being isolated from what lies outside them, firms are
embedded in networks of social and institutional relationships
that shape and are shaped by their strategies and structures
(Granovetter, 1985)”
§ Knowledge injection from entrepreneurs and
specialists that operated elsewhere – the case of
expatriates (Saxenian 2006)

16. Entrepreneurial regions have
similarities but each one is unique

17. “Policymakers shouldn’t be trying to
copy Silicon Valley. Instead, they should
be figuring out what domain is (or could
be) specific to their region.”
- MARC ANDREESSEN
Cofounder, Netscape Communications & Andreessen Horowitz

18. Meet Silicon Fen

19. Case 2
Cambridge, UK (Silicon Fen)
§ Launched by a private initiative in
1960
§ 3 Cambridge graduates decided
to utilize the University’s talent to
benefit of the British economy
(Morgan, 2010)
§ Success stories include –
Cambridge Silicon Radio, Acorn
Computers, ARM, Autonomy and
so forth

20. Source:
Professor
Alan
Barrell,
Cambridge
University
Judge
Business
School

22. More recent cases of
entrepreneurial clusters
§ Silicon Wadi – Israel
§ Silicon Alley – New York
§ Silicon Roundabout
(TechCity) - London
§ Silicon [Add name] – is
next?

23. What about Cyprus?

24. What happened in the last 3 years?
§ Organic growth of a promising entrepreneurial ecosystem
§ Led by private initiatives, the government is now becoming
involved as well
§ Angel investments, in software and internet startups, are
happening (CYBAN invests in Teach’n’Go and StudentLife)
§ The number of entrepreneurial competitions + events, and
startups on the island are increasing
§ There is still a lot of space for improvement (in terms of
culture, legislation, funding and general support)

25. Who is involved? (cont.)
§ Entrepreneurship-related organizations (Cypriot Enterprise
Link (CEL), Junior Achievement and CARIE)
§ Accelerators (Chrysalis Leap)
§ Universities (University of Nicosia, UoC, CIIM)
§ Events (Meetups/workshops by CEL, Chrysallis, IEEE etc, Hack
Cyprus Insights Conference, Open Coffee, Startup Grind,
Startup Live, Startup Weekend, TEDxNicosia, GEW CYEC,
Code School)
§ Hackathons and Hack Spaces (CEL’s Hack Cyprus, Hack 66)

26. Who is involved? (cont.)
§ Corporations/organizations that facilitate – banks, audit/
accounting firms (big four), other firms (e.g.: CYTA, MTN)
§ Angel Investors (CYBAN)
§ Co-working spaces – Capital Impact
§ The government and legislators (e.g.: Cyprus Business Angel
Law)
§ Most importantly: Startups (ENERMAP, Avocarrot, Teach’n’Go,
Funifi, DIYFUL, Student Life and AtYourService etc.)

27. Conclusions
§ An entrepreneurial ecosystem grows via the interaction of its
participants – value and diversification is created this way
§ Contribution is required by both the public and the private
sector
§ It takes decades to built and operate an entrepreneurial
ecosystem effectively, as to achieve tangible results
§ At the bottom, each ecosystem is unique – There are the
classic examples (SV, Cambridge, Israel) and newer examples
(Silicon Alley, Silicon Roundabout)
§ Cyprus has a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem
§ There has been significant development over the past 3 years,
but still there is a lot way to go and work to be done