As the adage goes, it takes a village to raise a child. The same is true for startups. Entrepreneurs need strong ecosystems to help them start, grow, and succeed. Central to their success is a supportive culture, strong social capital, talent, financial capital, training, and a simple, friendly policy environment.
It has been easy for governments to focus on the latter of these elements, working to remove regulatory barriers and making it simpler, faster and cheaper for entrepreneurs to interact with government entities. But it was initially the 2008 global recession, and more recently, the global pandemic that prompted many government leaders - at local and national levels worldwide - to embrace entrepreneur-led growth as a route to economic recovery, and seek to play a more active role in changing overall culture and mindsets and developing ecosystems.
We’re now seeing a new generation of leaders that acknowledge that government action goes beyond simple rhetoric endorsing entrepreneurship. Firstly, politicians are increasingly appointing entrepreneurs to lead on entrepreneurship policy. There are examples abound at the national level - from Algeria and Albania, to the United Kingdom and Ukraine, talented young entrepreneurs have been appointed as ministers of entrepreneurship and digital economy to lead on entrepreneurship policy within their governments. Overall, they have worked with equally young, small teams to deliver disproportionate impact.
In the U.S., one notable example is Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb’s appointment of Brad Chambers as Secretary of Commerce. Secretary Chambers is a highly successful entrepreneur who has built his business, Buckingham Companies, over the past 38 years and has donated over $3m to over 600 nonprofits through his company’s foundation. In appointing Secretary Chambers, Governor Halcomb recognized that entrepreneurs are in a unique position to work within government to tackle the barriers affecting fellow entrepreneurs. Core to this is their direct experience of the many challenges you face when starting a business. But an under-appreciated aspect is also their sheer tenacity, drive, and determination to solve problems and get things done.
Sec. Chambers has wasted no time since his Summer 2021 appointment, commissioning Startup Genome to study the state’s entrepreneurial climate for startups, launching a major new ‘5E’ strategic plan for economic growth, leading a delegation to COP 27 in Egypt, and announcing a record $22bn of economic development in Indiana in 2022, among many other achievements. .
One of the most exciting developments has been Sec. Chambers’ appointment of Julie Heath as VP Entrepreneurial Ecosystems. This is believed to be only the second ‘entrepreneurial ecosystems’ role at the U.S. federal or state level (the other being Jennifer Shieh, Director of Ecosystem Development at U.S. Small Business Administration).
With the creation of this position and the appointment of a well-versed ecosystem builder, Sec. Chambers has embraced the role that government can play in convening, supporting, and nurturing ecosystem development. While government leadership, policy reform and investment can go some way towards creating an entrepreneur-friendly environment, it is crucial that ecosystems develop and mature to offer entrepreneurs all the help they need to succeed.
Heath now has a unique and exciting opportunity spearhead ecosystem development on behalf of the Indiana state government. Many other states will be looking on with significant interest.