Here is a great post by Seth Godin on following the principle of ecosystem. Ecosystem is critical for sustaining a healthy economy. Entrepreneurs play a vital role in completing the cycle. Entrepreneurs build companies; entrepreneurs jump in to save ailing companies; entrepreneurs keep on innovating so that there is never a missing link within a vibrant economy. Sustainable competitive advantage is not created overnight by playing safe, with strong government oversights and by policies discouraging risk-taking entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs are the ultimate job creators. With the sharp decline in venture and institutional funds, these are the trying times for entrepreneurs. While the government is more focused on creating jobs than creating entrepreneurs – entrepreneurs need to take the lead once again in uniting, collaborating, innovating and executing. I am a strong believer that individualistic nature of entrepreneurs make them who they are and allow them to produce in a scale unimaginable even by established institutions. But, I am also a pragmatist and a realist – that during slow economies we need to collaborate, share resources and compliment skill sets. The age old adage by Aristotle is still relevant – The whole is greater than the sum of parts. Car pediem, seize the opportunity to create a great future
Fostering entrepreneurship to create jobs -
Watching Meg whitmann/Jerry brown campaign unfold in california had me thinking about the stand both candidates take on promoting entrepreneurship. Whitman has a strong record of entrepreneurship, building ebay into a mega corporation – helping millions of entrepreneurs owning their own piece of online commerce.
Job creating engines like ebay would have never emerged from any government job initiatives. If Whitmann becomes the next gov in California she must balance fiscal conservatism without compromising on government mandated tax breaks, innovation grants both through higher institutions and at the grass roots level. Whitmann should also look into increasing grants, tax incentives for entrepreneurs starting incubators, community workplaces. In the conceptual economy, the next eBay may easily emerge from a community workplace instead of the lab rooms of Stanford.
Meg Whitman talks about innovation, fostering entrepreneurship
http://fora.tv/2008/09/23/Meg_Whitman_Entrepreneurship_and_Innovation
Having spent many years of schooling in the midwest, I really felt how it was like to live in a small town America. Entrepreneurial and creative spirit was very high but the resources were extremely limited. People often made tough choices to either stay home and take on limited career opportunities or leave for more creative and lucrative ventures elsewhere.
Reading this blogpost by an entreprneur in Fort Wayne Indiana had me thinking about the urgency to act to promote entreprneurship and create local opportunities for youth and aspiring entrepreneurs in these small towns.
With strong existing infrastructures of small town America and the only limitation being the size of the market and the proximity from major metropolitan hubs, enterprises can benefit by leveraging on the local talent pool and build lasting collaborative opportunities.
I have been actively using resources from small towns for several ventures that I am part of- ranging from website development work we sent to a group of freelancers in small town in Oregon to sending all our video editing work – done by group of freelancers in a small town of Monrovia California.
I understand the rationale for outsourcing to resources internationally – primarilily to meet the economy of scale and due to the price factor. But, if the government at the Federal level works with entrepreneurs in these small towns and collectively create an consortium or policies to give large markets incentives to work with small towns instead of just viewing them as potential consumers, Fort Waynes all across the United States can flourish and take on large projects collectively and create millions of sustainable jobs!