Oriana Torres, MBA
Student Babson College
December 20th,
2012
“ENTREPRENEURSHIP ECOSYSTEM? Another academic jargon- you might say. I wonder how many Entrepreneurs know the
concept … and if they actually should know it from a technical perspective.
Probably not. But what I wonder is, if Colombian Entrepreneurs are aware enough
to NAVIGATE such ecosystem and make the most out of it – genuinely and
strategically.”
Fist of all, I want to open making
the disclaimer that I am not an entrepreneur, although, yes, I opened a
restaurant in northern Bogota (Colombia) as a side business back in 2010. The
business failed and the reasons why it failed are crystal-clear to me today. I
guess this is a “fashionable” thing to share nowadays that our culture finally starts
to understand that failure is inherent to innovation and entrepreneurship. But
this post is neither about my “low-growth” previous entrepreneurial try, nor about
me. This post is about all those privileged, real, High Impact Entrepreneurs
out there. And even if I just stated that I am not an Entrepreneur, I have spent lots of
time around them to the point that I am more than confident to write the
following thoughts.
It’s a good moment to be an Entrepreneur
in Colombia, specially if you are a Dynamic, High-Growth, High Impact one – “label”
it however you want: it’s a good moment to be a visionary leader, who
identifies an uncontested market space, captures the extraordinary value around
it and makes sure such endeavor GROWS healthy and sustainably. And it’s a good moment because since
couple of years things are changing and a solid ENTREPRENEURSHIP ECOSYSTEM seems to be emerging in our
country.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP ECOSYSTEM? Another academic jargon, might
you say. I wonder how many Entrepreneurs know the concept … and if they
actually should know it from a technical perspective. Probably not. But what I
wonder is, if Colombian Entrepreneurs are aware enough to NAVIGATE such
ecosystem and make the most out of it – genuinely
and strategically.
When it comes to
entrepreneurship, I was born and raised by Endeavor. Great parents, I must say.
Right now I’m entering the adulthood thanks to the Babson Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Project and Babson College where I am doing
my MBA (which included a summer sabbatical at iNNpulsa Colombia, the National
Agency for Innovation and Dynamic Entrepreneurship in Colombia). And because I
have been a lucky apprentice around those who are trying to figure out how to
stimulate a strong entrepreneurship ecosystem for Colombia, I would like to offer
you Entrepreneurs some advice on the role that you are encouraged to play in
such a booming ecosystem.
Make sure you understand YOU are the center of the model
All the institutions and policies
around the topic of entrepreneurship exist for a reason: to make sure more and
better High Growth Entrepreneurs scale to a point where - apart from fulfilling their personal
dreams - the entrepreneur’s companies
move the needle of the economy in terms of economic capital (jobs,
contribution to GDP), intellectual capital (innovative solutions, patents),
cultural capital (powerful narratives, role modeling), among many other
societal benefits. So, YOU, Mrs/Mr Entrepreneur, please remember that you are
the end consumer, the ultimate beneficiary of the system. Live your role. Claim your place. Often I see Entrepreneurs rather “intimidated” by the organizations
that support entrepreneurship, scared of knocking doors or full of
paradigms about how those catalyzing institutions work. Rescuing an amazing
quote from Wences Casares, an Endeavor Global Entrepreneur, he said that “Theory
is when nothing works & we know exactly why, practice is when everything
works & we have no clue why”. You Entrepreneurs are the practice, you are
the living proof of what works and what doesn’t, and while the best thought
leaders in the ecosystem have been entrepreneurs and/or investors, is it you,
Mrs/Mr Entrepreneur, who needs to expose yourself to the system so that it
always remembers why it was established in first place. Don’t be concerned
about “fitting” in a movement that
is precisely meant to understand and catalyze you.
Differentiate the “great” from the “not that great”
An ecosystem is an emerging
structure, no matter how oxymoronic it sounds when we say that “we are working
to build it”. It’s a living process where at times it’s very hard to answer the
question weather if policy, programs or access to capital precede the existence
of great entrepreneurs or viceversa. But the point that I try to make is that,
because it’s an emerging system there are not “gates” to it and it’s hard to
control who is in there and therefore, as an Entrepreneur you will be likely to
find “great” and “not that great” actors out there. Use
your criteria and be wise. Not every
program will be well thought. Not every “mentor” will act as a real a mentor.
Not every capital offer will be “smart” for your business. And this advice
is particularly relevant since some of the programs out there are extremely
attractive because they are easily attainable or “free”, to the point that
entrepreneurs feel tempted to just participate in whatever they find as a
manifestation of the well known “FOMO” (Fear of Missing Out). Set your
priorities, look for strategic fits and be selective in terms of whom you work
with.
Good things come with a price, so do the homework
Often I meet entrepreneurs that
just do not want to do the homework. As H. Roark once said, "to get things
done, you must love the doing, not the secondary consequences". Even if institutions in the ecosystem
are doing a great job marketing who they are and how they operate (and in my
opinion few of them even “babysit” entrepreneurs!) you must put in the hours to
do what it takes to benefit from the system. And this goes from basic things
such as following the relevant social media channels of institutions to be
informed of opportunities, over doing quality applications that really do
reflect the reality and plans of your company, over networking to make sure you
really understand what the ecosystem as a whole has to offer. You, Entrepreneurs, are thousands and the
leading organizations are probably only tens, so there must be standard
procedures in place for these organizations to interact with you and you need, if
applicable, to commit to those. It is understandable that an Entrepreneur’s
main responsibility is to “take care of her/his company” and that time is the
one of the scarcest resources, that’s why the key is to a align with those
organizations and programs that really fall into your own agenda, so that they
become leverage points, rather than “extra random tasks” in your TO DO list. Be
organized and proactive.
Help the ecosystem institutions be better
Here is the catch: Because our
country is in diapers in terms of an entrepreneurship ecosystem, many of the
institutions that foster entrepreneurship are also start-ups and scale-ups
themselves. They might be under the umbrella of strong global brands or even under
the government, but things are being “professionally figured out as they
happen”, these institutions are pivoting too! That means that YOU, as the end
consumer, play a key role offering candid feedback though formal and informal
channels to those organizations on how to SERVE YOU better. It’s very easy to
criticize when we are upset about the content of an event, or about the
requirements or outcome of an application process, but it adds more value for
all to come back and express what should -in your opinion- be different. Dare
to do that, it’s one of the most important roles you can play.
Give Back
Something that I admire
particularly from the Entrepreneurs of Endeavor is their fierce commitment to
“Give Back”. For them, giving back means belonging to a network where they play
a role of a “member” rather than the sole role of a “receiver”, despite their
clear condition of benefiter. Giving Back in a genuine attitude and manifests
itself in many forms and moments. Here is an example. Few months back I was
collecting data from entrepreneurs (applying a survey) that was very relevant
for a research I was running for iNNpulsa Colombia: the few entrepreneurs that
took 15 minutes of their time to answer my questions were giving back to the
ecosystem. Yes, surveys are boring, but do you see the bigger picture of what
could be accomplished by that and how this can benefit all of us? Giving Back
could also be something way more rewarding such as mentoring/investing in a
younger entrepreneur, or doing a public presentation telling your
Entrepreneurial story to society. Don’t underestimate the power of your narratives,
they might well be the only real driver of change an ecosystem has. At this
point my message does not go towards what specifically to do to give back (this
can be an interesting whole new reflection), but towards the importance of
seeing your “residence” in a particular entrepreneurial ecosystem as a two-way
process.
One of the things I loved about
the last visit of iNNpulsa Colombia to the President of Colombia Juan ManuelSantos was the fact that they brought along Entrepreneurs, whose stories were
actually in the spotlight of the meeting. To me, that sent a strong message,
which is the same message I felt like passing through this post. You,
Entrepreneurs, are the reason for this entire boom. This is about YOU, not
about we, that talk about it.
If there is a moment to become and High Growth Entrepreneur in Colombia, it’s now. Dance with the ecosystem, be bold!
Disclaimer: Opinions presented are my own and do not represent the organizations that are named in this article.
