The Missing Ingredient
In our article introducing the Digital City, we mentioned that the key ingredient to activating a Smart City is to incorporate entrepreneurship. In cities that are not considered technological hubs, innovation has been confined to individual efforts and siloed organizations to produce a product, produce a business model, and find funding. Our goal is to create a cultural shift where entrepreneurial principles and open innovation are embraced by all sectors of our community and beyond. At Start Co. we believe that Peter Drucker was right in saying that, “the best way to predict the future is to create it.” For us it means that “Entrepreneurship is for Everyone.”
Status Quo
United States cities are falling behind in terms of economic and technological growth. Traditional approaches have not succeeded in reversing this trend, but not from a lack of effort. Now more than ever, we need to embrace the entrepreneurial spirit to truly advance and move beyond incremental innovation that isn’t keeping up. This does not mean that everyone needs to begin their own startup, but rather we ought to allow the framework and strategies behind entrepreneurship to direct our future. To embrace entrepreneurship is to shift our guiding question from “how can we stay afloat?” to “what can we accomplish if?”
A Community Built on Entrepreneurship
“Entrepreneurship is for Everyone” literally means that we invite all of our community members to participate. In Memphis we are blessed with diverse community members. We have known for a very long time that entrepreneurship cannot continue being an endeavor only pursued by select individuals and be considered accessible and available to everyone. The support of minority and women-owned businesses historically and continues to remain a priority here at Start Co. Furthermore, we believe in building a continuum of talent that has the business and technological acumen and resources to participate in the movement we are building.
Entrepreneurship is moreso a mindset, strategy, or framework rather than a defined career. It creates a foundation that impacts an entire region. Now more than ever we are seeing the public, private, philanthropic, and educational sectors looking to accelerate our economic growth entrepreneurially. This is great to see. When everyone buys in, the community grows stronger.
Call to Action
Entrepreneurship is for Everyone is more than a catchphrase. It is a call to action to all members of a community from individuals to large corporations to governments to mutually support and embrace an innovation and the entrepreneurial problem solving approach. When talent, funding, and creativity come together with problem solving, the right environment to succeed arises.