The first week in January, the University of Arkansas’ Office of Entrepreneurship took graduate students from the New Venture Development class to San Francisco (#SanFran15). What a way to begin the New Year! We were hosted by members of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Arkansas Alumni Association (@HogsintheFog), and we cannot thank them enough for putting together such a valuable and impactful experience for our group. This initiative allowed our entrepreneurship students to interact with individuals (some of them UofA alumni) from well-known companies like Yelp!, GitHub, Salesforce, PricewaterhouseCooopers, and Google Ventures, as well as those who are seasoned in the startup process (Upside and Handpick) and venture capital fronts (Apax Partners and Alchemist Accelerator). We especially thank Ernst Bauer, Andrew Housley, Billy Ruck, and members of alumni board for organizing these seriously high-caliber meetings, devoting days’ worth of time that resulted in the experience of a lifetime for our students, as well as a fabulous happy hour(s) event that allowed our group to meet and network with successful alumni in the Bay Area, including entrepreneur Sunny Gosain, the inspirational keynote speaker. As a UofA alumna, I felt a tremendous amount of pride and verve as our group called the Hogs with the alumni in San Francisco!
Completely energized and motivated, our entrepreneurship students were buzzing, both during and after the trip, with comments and ideas that were sparked by or discussed in meetings in San Francisco; however, there were a couple of comments that were expressed numerous times. Not only were our students impressed by the humility, eagerness to help, and graciousness of everyone we met in San Francisco, but they were also greatly moved by how hopeful these individuals are for the entrepreneurial success of U of A students and of Arkansas. Our students also enjoyed hearing the perspective of how others outside Arkansas think, especially in an area “where it’s happening.”
Where it’s happening … I was especially struck by this phrase. It clearly describes the Bay Area and Silicon Valley with respect to innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit, but it does beg the question, “How does the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Arkansas become an area also known as a place ‘where it’s happening’?”
Last month I proposed that the “chair” of economic and entrepreneurial success in Arkansas is comprised of four equivalent legs: 1) businesses, 2) state organizations, 3) individuals and the private sector and 4) colleges and universities. During the trip to San Francisco, it was clear that the collaborative nature of this area is its competitive advantage. While everyone our group met with alluded to this concept, no one was quite as direct as Dr. Ronald Weissman, a Fulbright Scholar, Chairman of Software SIG and Band of Angels, and partner at Apax Partners. Weissman has an impressive background and résumé, full of vibrant interests and extraordinary accomplishments, including his VC and angel investment activities. During his presentation to our group, Weissman not only provided our students with insights to the psychology of VCs and fundraising 101, but he also thoroughly discussed the elements of how Silicon Valley continues to be a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem. Rather than condensing the key players into four groups, Weissman explicitly defined the fundamental entities required for any area to become entrepreneurially successful:
- Accelerators & Incubators
- Major Companies
- Universities
- Entrepreneur-friendly Government
- Banks
- Public Markets
- Lawyers
- Accountants
- VCs
- Media
According to Weissman, “an innovation economy requires an ecosystem,” and participation from each group in the list is necessary to glue the community together. He provided examples of each group in the Silicon Valley and then asked us to assess our strengths in Arkansas and the areas where we might have some room for expanded involvement.
This is an excellent challenge for anyone interested in helping the economic and entrepreneurial success of Arkansas. What and who do we need (especially considering the above list) to move forward? Where are our strengths, and where do we fall short? In light of the recent State of the Union address, maybe we should think in terms of a State of the Ecosystem. I think that at a quick glance, our current ecosystem can easily put a checkmark in the above categories, but while some groups do have key individuals and are relatively strong areas for the state, simply checking a box is not enough to develop a sustainable ecosystem. What is each area doing to become stronger, to grow and to collaborate with the other necessary groups to propagate and replicate success? What are we doing to evangelize and recruit? Furthermore, are we properly communicating our efforts and needs to those who can help? Do the citizens of Arkansas not directly involved in our efforts know about and understand the purpose and benefits of the ecosystem?
Developing the ecosystem is an endeavor that is going to take a great deal of commitment and support from every region in the state. As is obvious from Weissman’s list, this task requires an obligation from a variety of entities and individuals possessing unique talents and capabilities; however, I believe that it is equally important for members of every community in Arkansas to be aware of the efforts and the economic and entrepreneurial potential our state possesses. This is something each Arkansan can take a great deal of pride in and support because it will continue to drive overall economic development and promote job growth.
From the university perspective, I believe that many of our state’s public and private colleges and universities are making an effort to increase the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit among students. This awareness is even beginning in many of our primary and secondary schools around the state. At the University of Arkansas, the Office of Entrepreneurship is keenly aware of our position and the impact that we can have when working with others to develop the ecosystem. Each semester we are honored to have members of the community representing major companies, startups, accounting and legal fields, accelerators and incubators, and VC and investment firms all serve as mentors to our entrepreneurship teams. We appreciate the interaction with individuals from these groups, as they provide a wealth of knowledge to our students. Additionally, the Office of Entrepreneurship is not only cognizant of the U of A’s key strengths and desires to continue fostering leaders in these fields, but we would also like to identify other talent pools and pull these disciplines into the entrepreneurship fold. We recognize the potential for the commercialization of faculty and student research and are reaching out to include representation and involvement from more disciplines in a variety of fields, particularly in the STEM disciplines, as we continue to strive to promote technology-based startups in Arkansas. We are also eager to continue building partnerships with other universities, like previous interactions with UAMS, in the commercialization of research throughout the state.
The mission of the office’s IGNITE (Industry Generating New Ideas and Technology through Education) program also hinges on the involvement of Arkansas businesses; more industry participation with the program equates to educating our students, helping Arkansas companies grow, advancing technology in the state, sparking ideas for commercialization and creating jobs in the state. When our group was talking with Dr. Weissman in San Francisco, he proposed one way in which Arkansas businesses might help play a stronger role in developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem. He suggested that an increase in the number of “mid-sized-to-larger organizations [in the state] which serve as innovation and talent hubs for the proliferation of spinouts” would be beneficial to Arkansas. The creation of “intrapreneurial programs” within larger companies to encourage employees to develop ideas and startups is part of Silicon Valley’s “unique spinout model” by which established companies “spawn” new companies from research and development. While Arkansas companies may not currently have the resources (i.e., time and people) to adopt this model, the concept fits nicely into the purpose of the IGNITE program. Companies (small, mid-size, or large) can engage with IGNITE and partner with talented faculty and students in research and development; companies can expand with new technology and job creation, or new products, materials, processes and ideas that are generated could then easily be launched through the entrepreneurship classes, resulting in new startups.
In addition to Arkansas companies, IGNITE also has very close ties to the state government, as initial funding of the program came from Governor Beebe’s administration and his recognition of the statewide economic development potential of the program. With the recent change in administration, the Office of Entrepreneurship looks forward to working with tenured and new members of the state’s legislation, who are hopefully as eager to continue to support the development of programs like IGNITE, startup companies and the growth of the economic and entrepreneurial ecosystem throughout Arkansas.
As someone who wakes up every day and goes to bed every night thinking about promoting innovation and fostering connections in Arkansas, particularly between companies and U of A STEM students, I greatly appreciated Dr. Weissman’s candid discussion about the history and current status of Silicon Valley’s ecosystem and the key elements needed to develop a successful, notable entrepreneurial ecosystem in Arkansas. What I found to be even more remarkable, however, was that our students were equally intrigued by Weissman’s presentation. By the end of the trip and after all of the wonderful meetings, the students were just as motivated to start their own successful companies as they were to become an integral part in developing the startup culture and entrepreneurial ecosystem throughout the state. I heard comments that indicated this kind of spirit and energy, and I completely agreed with one student’s assessment of the entire trip: “Worth it!”
So to keep with the collaborative essence of the trip, it is only appropriate to close by sharing statements and concepts imparted to our students during other meetings in San Francisco. Hopefully we can all continue to share the information we glean as we strive to develop the ecosystem in Arkansas, a place to be recognized as “where it’s happening.”
@GitHub: “Optimize happiness” and think about what drives employees as a means to attracting talent.
@Yelp: Luther Lowe, Arkansas native, credited STEM education in Arkansas as preparation for his career in Silicon Valley. He also told the group “to always strive to elevate those around you.”
@Upside: Tom Kimberly, co-founder and CEO, stressed the importance of being in the right place at the right time and the importance of flexibility and capability of your team.
@Handpickfood: Paymen Nejati also discussed the concept of being an “intrapreneur” at a company and how this method can be helpful to the company or result in the creation of a startup. He also stated that a new idea is born when two or more unrelated ideas come together.
@DonaldJohns instructed the students to consider the importance of design and to execute at the highest level.
@AlchemistAcc: Danielle Agostaro provided information about presenting to investors, “Too many details convolute the vision.”
@GoogleVentures: Paige Tracy also gave specific feedback to the students as they prepare their business plan pitches: “Never give the same presentation.”
For tweets and pictures from the trip, check out our posts through our Twitter feed @UofA_Ent, and search for #SanFran15.
