Welcome and Introduction: Setting the stage for the Gen Research Summit 2025 at GEC, outlining the history and objectives of Gen Research, and emphasizing the goal of greater collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. Introduction of Ted Zoller as the session leader.
Defining the GERN Research Role: Discussion on what makes this gathering unique – the mix of pure play academics, engaged researchers, and research consumers/practitioners. Establishing the concept of GERN's role in guiding future research agendas with high social impact, fostering communication between research and practitioner communities, and maintaining a global focus.
Practitioner Perspectives and Data Challenges: Insights from practitioners like SOMO and FATE Foundation on the ground realities of working with entrepreneurs in East Africa and Nigeria. Challenges related to data accessibility, ownership, and the need for data to directly benefit entrepreneurs. Discussion on leveraging real-time data collected by support organizations for research. Challenges of data custodianship, interoperability, and the difficulty in measuring impact, particularly for accelerators and incubators.
OECD's Perspective on a Forward Research Agenda: Three key areas for research: policy evaluation (undertaking high-quality evaluations with control groups), the entrepreneurial ecosystem concept (examining evolution over time and causation), and targeting/selection (identifying high-potential enterprises and entrepreneurs). Debate on the publishability of policy evaluation research. Discussion on the lack of an OECD analog in the US for consistent long-term research.
Ecosystem Concept Evolution: Discussion on the "fat and fashion" aspects of ecosystem research and the need to go beyond buzzwords. Rethinking the focus from simply "more entrepreneurs" to what types of entrepreneurship lead to specific positive outcomes for society. The need for better data on ecosystem conditions, culture, networks, and leadership. The potential of user-generated data and new data analysis techniques like AI. The importance of dialogue and engagement with practitioners and stakeholders. Learning from action and implementation.
Rethinking Success and Data Frameworks: A contrarian view proposing that "more is not better" and that starting a business is not always the best outcome for individuals or society. The inadequacy of existing data frameworks to capture individuals who drop off the entrepreneurial path. The need for population-based approaches and research that identifies potential entrepreneurs facing barriers. Advocating for evaluation measures that consider success beyond just firm creation. The gap between research and practice, and the need for researchers to be more responsive to the needs of policymakers and donors. The opportunity presented by students in bridging the translation gap.
Social Welfare and Marginalized Communities: Discussion on exploring different definitions of success, particularly when working with marginalized entrepreneurs like resettled refugees, and measuring outcomes like self-efficacy, well-being, and resilience alongside economic metrics. Aligning with human flourishing concepts.
Defining Outcomes and Metrics: Proposal to focus on "more and more local firms growing more and more rapidly" as a measurable outcome variable. Suggestion of a "skinny" metric, analogous to the Gini coefficient, to measure the distribution of growth within an ecosystem. Critique of poor quality databases used for measuring outcomes.
Economics, Finance, and Shifting Landscapes: Discussion on emerging research areas like startup labor markets and university technology transfer from a demand-side perspective. The need for ambitious data partnerships and collaboration, drawing lessons from orchestrated efforts in fields like healthcare research. Highlighting seismic shifts influenced by policy and economic conditions, and the rational behavior of investors focusing on short-term gains over long-term, tough tech research.
Publication Barriers and Bias: Challenges in publishing research conducted in non-traditional contexts (e.g., conflict zones) or using non-traditional methods (e.g., hand-collected data) in top journals. Discussion on educating editors and reviewers and rethinking what is valued in academic institutions for tenure and promotion.
Entrepreneurial Development and Education: Discussion on entrepreneurial mindset, competencies, and learning. Utilizing innovative approaches like podcasts for data collection and teaching. The potential of AI in accelerating learning and seeing opportunities. Rethinking failure and resilience across cultures. The application of entrepreneurial mindset in corporate settings. Identification of key clusters in recent entrepreneurship research and calls for integrating more entrepreneurship research into education. Focus on individuals, teams, context, action-based approaches, and competencies.
Reflections on the Field's Progress and Challenges: Historical perspective on the academic field of entrepreneurship, acknowledging progress but highlighting ongoing obstacles like journal biases and lack of respect from some universities. Emphasis on the value of all types of entrepreneurial firms, not just high-growth startups. Discussion of contextual liabilities and psychological factors like self-sabotage in under-resourced environments. The need to continue tackling challenges related to journal publications and translation.
Role of Boundary Spanners: Highlighting the importance of individuals who bridge the gap between academia and practice, facilitating data sharing and collaboration.
Call to Action for GERN: Reaffirming the potential role of GERN as a unique international organization bringing together researchers and practitioners to champion more rigorous and relevant research, act as a translational lever, and focus on human opportunity and flourishing.
"If I had a party, this would be kind of the party I would want to have. You know, it's it looks like uh the Star Wars uh you know, bar scene, right? I mean, we're all kind of different. Uh but it gives us an opportunity to really bring things together."
"There needed to be greater collaboration uh and coordination between researchers, policy makers and practitioners uh to drive the impact of research and and kind of create that uh uh positive circle of of uh impact. to uh ensure that the research is being uh translated into uh better policies and better support for entrepreneurs."
"Often that how do you actually make the data that we're um accessing accessible for your average entrepreneur across these geographies to actually be able to input that data, provide that data, and also have ownership and find value from that data themselves."
"How do you work with operating entrepreneurs to make data available for research purposes? Norris, I it comes down to in many ways that asking what are the questions that they want to have answered and find time and time again there's a disconnect between what the academics are asking..."
"...we often look at entrepreneurs that have started a business and so we ask about how they can be helped and then we wonder why more people aren't starting businesses and the problem is we often catch people when it's too late."
"Most of the research that we see is examining ecosystems today um and not how those ecosystems evolved over time..."
"...we really need to think about outcomes. So does entrepreneurship actually improve social welfare?"
"More and more local firms growing more and more rapidly."
"We understand less about talent compensation uh motivation and so When we think about those topics, we often think about areas of the world in which we can gather such data very systematically."
"I think we're at this junction juncture where we could could um strive to be uh more salient, dream bigger in terms of our data partnerships and collaborations."
"...we need to rethink success and More is not better, right?"
"...there is one thing that has been lurking beneath there that sort of bothered me. Uh one thing we're as a field we're criticized for that we are kind of not into theory."
"Is there another organization in An entrepreneurship that is international contains researchers and practitioners who are willing to talk to each other. Think about it. Name another."
Bridging the Practice-Research Gap: A significant disconnect exists between what researchers study and what practitioners and policymakers need. There is a strong call for research to be more responsive to real-world challenges and actionable for those on the ground.
Innovative Data Approaches: Moving beyond traditional data sources is crucial. Leveraging data collected by practitioner organizations, exploring user-generated data (social media, mobile money), utilizing AI for analysis and learning acceleration, and developing better metrics (like a "skinny" for growth distribution) were highlighted as critical paths forward.
Rethinking Success and Outcomes: The field needs to broaden its definition of success beyond just high-growth ventures and firm creation. Research should focus on the diverse outcomes of entrepreneurship, including human flourishing, poverty reduction, well-being, and community impact, particularly in different contexts and for marginalized populations. Evaluating outcomes beyond economic metrics is essential.
Improving Research Rigor and Relevance: While praising existing work, there's a need for more high-quality policy evaluations with control groups, longitudinal studies of ecosystem evolution, and theoretically grounded research. Addressing biases in journals and academic evaluation systems to value diverse data sources and research approaches is necessary.
Fostering Collaboration and Translation: Intentional collaboration between researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and funders is vital. Developing common language, sharing data transparently, and actively translating research findings into usable formats for various audiences (including students and entrepreneurs) are ongoing challenges and opportunities. Boundary spanners who bridge these communities are invaluable.
Kaufman Foundation
Indiana Economic Development Corporation
SOMO (East Africa)
SBDC (Small Business Development Center)
PSED (Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics)
QUT (Queensland University of Technology)
Genome (Startup Genome)
GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor)
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)
SMS (Strategic Management Society)
Academy of Management
Babson Research Conference
NIH (National Institutes of Health)
NSF (National Science Foundation)
DOE (Department of Energy)
Milken Institute
NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research)
Crunchbase
Pitchbook
PrivCo
Capital IQ
Dealroom
Traxxn
ERC (Entrepreneurship Research Centre)
JEDI (Global Entrepreneurship Development Index)
ETP (Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice)
AMLE (Academy of Management Learning & Education)
Edward Elgar (Publisher)
California Management Review
Sloan Management Review
Business Horizons
Journal of Business Venturing
Small Business Economics
American Economic Review
Edward Elgger (Edward Elgar Publishing)
Entrepedia (Podcast by Rebecca White, The N Factor)
Entrep Comp Study
La Center for Entrepreneurship (University of Tampa)
Coach (Group mentioned by Rebecca White)
Document and share the insights from the session, potentially in a white paper or manuscripts, to influence journal editors, reviewers, and the academy.
Intentionally engage practitioners and funders (foundations, larger funders) in the research process.
Strive to create a community where translation is an important component of research expectation and responsibility.
Researchers should be more cognizant and humble about motivating their work by what policy makers, entrepreneurship supporters, and donors are asking for.
Explore and utilize new data sources and analytical techniques, including practitioner-collected data, user-generated data, and AI.
Advocate for changes in academic evaluation systems to better value research that is relevant and impactful for practitioners and society.
Lean in to support GERN in its role as a translational enabler for the research community.
Collaborate on writing up the session's findings (Ted Zoller extended an invitation).
Continue the dialogue and engagement beyond the session (Tom Hancock invited follow-up).
