Today I had the opportunity to participate in a live teleseminar lead by Brad Feld, an inspiring thought leader and active angel investor in the startup community. Here is some food for thought he provided when it comes to building a sustainable entrepreneurial community.
1. The experienced entrepreneurs involved need to lead at the core with a shared and committed long-term view of the future.
2. Constantly have ways of making the community easily accessible to new entrepreneurs, continuously bringing in “fresh blood” so to say.
3. Participate and lead in activities that engage everyone involved, avoiding “clicks” at all costs.
4. Take time to create a consistent method of actively mentoring and truly supporting the 1st time entrepreneurs in the community. Provide them with information that is valuable, approach them with data rather then an answer.
We also discussed the newly launched Startup America Partnership. This initiative is the first time the federal government has acknowledged the distinction of “high growth entrepreneurship” in the United States. Before now, whether you were a small grocery story owner, founder of a tech startup or owner of a beauty salon, you fell into the category of “small business.” The startup initiative was designed to accelerate entrepreneurial growth, with a goal of adding 25,000 new jobs in the United States by 2016.
To learn more, visit www. startupamericapartnership.org
