The Role of "Connecting Activities" in Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Building
To transform an entrepreneurial ecosystem is not simply a matter of fixing one thing, but contemporaneously moving forward (a little bit at a time) on lots of related elements. As discussed in the “What is an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem”, there are some key elements that Chapman and Company have identified as being critical to entrepreneurial ecosystem building. Connecting activities is just one.
Connecting activities come in many forms:
Introductory emails
Coffees
Social media following
Meals – breakfasts, lunches, dinners
Not every connecting activity needs a “purpose”, but to build a network. The ultimate goal needs to be to build trust within the members. This is one of the reasons that the Boulder Thesis revolves around people who are heavily invested in Boulder – not just people that are passing through. However, building trust within an ecosystem is not about building a depth of relationship that is super deep. There should be social governance that prevents bad actors, certainly. But there is continuing research that suggests superficial acquaintances are critically important to building good ecosystems.
Superficial trust, what many economists call “weak ties”, actually by some measures is more important than deep trusted relationships or strong ties. This research suggests that people outside of existing trusted social circles may provide unique sets of knowledge, and Chapman and Company would suggest a unique new source of people who can impact individual companies or overall systems. When we present the role of connecting activities, many think we are talking about events. But, connecting activities is a much broader assortment of relationships than just an evening event or a coffee with an entrepreneur.
While the goal of every event in the entrepreneurial ecosystem builder world should be to help startups get 1) clients, 2) teammates, 3) advisors (peer or mentors), or 4) money, relationships, and events are not simply transactional. Moreover, when we act like the event is the goal into itself, we miss that the event is really a means to build a process for people to meet and bounce off each other like free radicals. Thus, the event should really be measured by the ability to create dynamic interactions between people who don’t normally interact. Because the goal is not the event itself, event measurements (like attendance) can be a surrogate for other types of measurements. The problem is that those measurements are hard and don’t show up right away.
For example, Tech Brew Council Bluffs for ten sessions as of now. And during that time, we have had excellent speakers who have invoked many practical lessons that they learned through their roles as both managers, technologists, and entrepreneurs. But, the goal of the event is not actually education. It is the gathering of free radical people. This means people that would never come together but for the event and their interest in the event, the speaker, or a personal invitation from someone who wanted them to attend.
In our last meeting, I interviewed Ben Milne of Dwolla. We tried to track how we knew each other near the beginning of the event. However, for the life of me, I cannot remember why or how we know each other. Eventually, we realized that we really got to know each other through Big Omaha. Around that time, I helped Ben meet a variety of investors and potential customers. To my knowledge, none of them signed up with him. The point is our connection failed by measurement terms, and yet, fifteen years later, I think we have both benefitted from our relationship.
I cannot measure the value of the connection. What I can do is identify that there is no real reason that we should know each other. Instead, we met because through fortuity we attended an event or had a common associate. Without connecting activities, there is no reason that we would know each other. There is also no real way to measure the importance of our relationship. The reality is that in economic terms it may always be zero – but it may also be that something I said or he said was the key to my next big idea or his.
The whole point of connecting activities is to build a strong social network that is supportive and reinforcing. My experience in Nebraska is that we are comfortable with our own insularity. We know each other from high school or college or the neighborhood. I know my neighbors and I know some big fish here. The reality is that for us to grow a world-class entrepreneurial ecosystem, we MUST transform this insularity and create spokes out to a deep web of relationships that pass through many people reinforcing our connections and reach into key markets.
This network, this connectivity, is a key element of successful economic systems – not just the early stage, entrepreneurial ecosystems of the world. Silicon Valley has tentacles and interconnecting webs that pass into virtually every place in the world. It’s because of that, they can leverage customers everywhere. They can find the exact right person from anywhere – for that job or to be a co-founder. Most places on earth don’t work like that.
To build something that is world-class, wherever you are, I suggest you will need to connect not just with your friends, but with your weak ties. In fact, as a community, the role of many acting in a way to be network builders – creating acquaintances and weak ties that can be reinforced by introductions and coffees and speaking engagements. Ultimately, the goal should go beyond a transaction and to reinforcing a network of these trusted people who all know each other…even if just a little bit.