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FOSTERING SCALEUP
ECOSYSTEMS FOR
REGIONAL
ECONOMIC GROWTH

INNOVATIONS CASE NARRATIVE:
MANIZALES-MAS AND SCALE UP MILWAUKEE

DANIEL ISENBERG AND VINCENT ONYEMAH

The search for reliable and replicable strategies to stimulate regional economic
prosperity is as old as the field of economic development itself.1 These
strategies have included encouraging direct investment, attracting and
retaining business, and developing sector-based cluster strategies.2 More
recently, the role of entrepreneurship has been explicitly recognized,
descriptively and prescriptively. Glaeser et al. and others have shown that one

essential element sustained in regional
growth is significant concentrations of
small and growing indigenous businesses.3
On the surface, these empirical findings are
consistent with the popularization of the
entrepreneurship ecosystem metaphor and
the subsequent launching by governments
and civic organizations of a plethora of
startup encouragement programs (per esempio., IL
Startup America Partnership, Startup Chile)
as a lead economic development strategy.4
The startup movement has drawn support
from the recurrent observation that startups
(cioè., young
firms) have produced a
disproportionate number of new jobs,
despite the fact that research has raised
questions about the meaning of these
findings and their extrapolation to startup
policies.5

Despite the amount of investment in and
the public visibility of the startup move-

ment, little evidence links the encourage-
ment of startups to indices of economic
growth. On the contrary, some indications
are that the return on investment for startup
encouragement is poor (per esempio., Startup New
York, Skolkovo Foundation, Startup
Chile).6 Inoltre, there is empirical evi-
dence that can be interpreted as indicating
that startup activity is negatively correlated
with firm survival, negatively correlated
with national competitiveness, and nega-
tively correlated with the proximity of mid-
market firms.7

In 2010, one of the authors (Isenberg) creat-
ed
intervention-oriented Babson
Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Platform
(BEEP), which launches and operates
regional economic development projects to
explore whether the critical economic
development variable of entrepreneurship
is how many new firms are started, or how

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Fostering ScaleUp Ecosystems for Regional Economic Growth

many firms start new growth. In short,
BEEP translates Glaeser et al.’s findings
from empirical description to intervention.
BEEP’s underlying premise is that regional
economic growth is positively stimulated by
more indigenous companies growing more
and more rapidly, and that an “ecosystem”
(see explanation in the next section) aligned
with this objective is needed to systematize,
scala, and sustain the growth. A tal fine,
BEEP has developed concepts and method-
ologies intended to motivate a broad range
of actors to recognize and support new
growth, each in ways specific to those stake-
holders, and each of which addresses those
stakeholders’ idiosyncratic needs. BEEP’s
modus operandi has been to demonstrate
the regional economic impact of achieving
new growth in a critical mass of regional
firms, while simultaneously stimulating the
growth-driven engagement of the ecosys-
tem actors.

This article presents the concepts, strate-
gies, and methods of BEEP’s projects and
illustrates them in two sites, Manizales,
Colombia
E
(Scale Up
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee). The use of these sites is poten-
tially significant, in part because method-
ologies developed and shown to be effective

(Manizales-Mas),

in these mid-tier regions are believed to be
broadly applicable to a wide range of mid-
size regional economies—more so, for
esempio, than interventions in New York,
Jakarta, or Delhi.

CORE CONCEPTS

BEEP embodies a number of core concepts
that guide all projects, including Manizales-
Mas and Scale Up Milwaukee:

•

Entrepreneurship. Various definitions of
entrepreneurship conflate entrepreneur-
ship primarily with firm age (young firms
are ipso facto considered entrepreneur-
ial), self-employment (firm ownership),
financial risk-taking, and innovation (use
of novel processes or products, among
others). Conversely, the BEEP perspec-
tive maintains that, whereas age, owner-
ship, risk-taking, and innovation may be
correlated with entrepreneurship in some
cases, these factors are not intrinsic to the
definition. Piuttosto, the common denomi-
nators of entrepreneurship are two neces-
sary and sufficient variables, namely, IL
creation of extraordinary economic value
for customers and the capture of some
meaningful portion of that value for the
people who drive the value-creation

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Daniel Isenberg is a Professor of Entrepreneurship Practice at Babson Executive Education, an
Associate at the Growth Lab, Harvard Kennedy School, and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia
Business School. He is the author of Worthless, Impossible and Stupid: How Contrarian
Entrepreneurs Create and Capture Extraordinary Value, and an entrepreneurship policy advisor
in over a dozen countries.

Vincent Onyemah is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Sales at Babson College; he previ-
ously taught at Boston University and the Lagos Business School. His articles have appeared in
the Harvard Business Review, Journal of International Business Studies, and European Journal of
Marketing, and he has worked in sales at both large companies and startups.

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Daniel Isenberg and Vincent Onyemah

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Fostering ScaleUp Ecosystems for Regional Economic Growth

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Daniel Isenberg and Vincent Onyemah

•

process.8 The practical implication is that
BEEP’s interventions are indifferent to
firm age, ownership, and innovation.
There is no claim that this definition of
entrepreneurship is “right,” only that it is
particularly useful for economic develop-
ment purposes.

Scaleup. Scaleup refers to a company that
grows consistently and significantly.
Precedent suggests quantifying high-
growth firms as having 20 percent growth
in revenues or headcount for three years
running, after reaching at least ten
employees and $1 million in revenues.9 BEEP assumes that, while the OECD def- inition of high-growth firms may serve as a lower-bound proxy for scaleup, more ambitious growth rates are achievable. Entrepreneurship ecosystem. Since 2010, the term entrepreneurship ecosystem has rapidly become an integral part of the entrepreneurship and economic develop- ment discussion.10 Popular use of the ecosystem metaphor typically refers to formal institutions (per esempio., incubators, men- toring programs, angel investor net- works) whose leaders, members, or char- ters explicitly intend to foster entrepre- neurship. The assumption underlying BEEP programs is that neither intention nor formality are essential ecosystem ele- menti, thus BEEP’s usage closely parallels the biological use of the term, in that the critical elements (per esempio., social norms that value wealth creation and business suc- cess) need not be intentional or formal.11 The common denominator among entre- preneurship ecosystem elements is how essential they are to increasing the num- ber of companies growing more and more rapidly. Intrinsic to the ecosystem metaphor is that these elements interact in ways that make the “whole” (the ecosystem) self-sustaining. BEEP pro- grams do recognize the role of formal institutions, but again, regardless of their explicit charters. Per esempio, an accessi- ble and well-functioning stock exchange may not intend to foster entrepreneur- • • ship per se, but it still may have a strongly facilitative or even causal effect. Figura 1 is a widely cited representation of the abstract elements of the entrepreneurship ecosystem, organized into six compre- hensive domains.12 include Stakeholders. In each domain, individual actors can be identified who have an actu- al or potential interest in more companies growing more rapidly in their region (Figura 2). Examples local bankers (finance domain), who directly benefit from growth; executives in large local corporations (markets domain), who benefit from growing companies to partner with or acquire; administrative heads of local universities (human capital domain), who benefit from successfully placing alumni in local jobs or receiving research funding from local corporations; and journalists, who benefit from pub- lishing stories of growth to attract and retain readers. Demonstration effects. While BEEP pro- grams do not assume that regional stake- holders necessarily have an explicit inten- tion to foster regional scaleups and a regional scaleup ecosystem, they do stand to benefit from regional scaleups. They demonstrate to the stakeholders that scaleup serves their interests and will increase their investment of time, effort, or material resources. Therefore, the tac- tical objective of many BEEP programs is to foster the demonstration effects of scaleup. Demonstration effects are also important because, as stakeholders invest more, is required. One BEEP principle is to reduce its regional involvement after certain growth thresholds have been achieved in order to ensure that the ecosystem has been strengthened. less outside intervention • Spillovers. One purpose in creating demonstration effects is to increase the probability that stakeholders will sponta- neously and increasingly make growth- fostering investments (financial and oth- 64 innovazioni / Thriving Cities Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/1-2/60/705202/inov_a_00248.pdf by guest on 08 settembre 2023 Fostering ScaleUp Ecosystems for Regional Economic Growth erwise) and lead others to make invest- ments that foster regional entrepreneur- ship, independent of any centrally coordi- nated or imposed efforts to do so. One BEEP principle is to foster such indirect or higher order “spillover effects” of scaleup entrepreneurship by communi- cating growth events to stakeholders and other entrepreneurs. MANIZALES13 Manizales, capital of the Colombian state of Caldas, is an urban region of about 400,000 inhabitants located in Colombia’s coffee- growing region. It is roughly equidistant from Bogotá, Cali, and Medellin. Founded in 1849 by pioneers from Antioquia (near Medellin) who trekked through the Andes searching for fertile land, Manizales’ econo- my prospered from the coffee business until the global coffee cartel collapsed in the 1980s. The founders brought to Manizales values in education, industry, collaboration, and art. In 2010, Manizales was Colombia’s sixth-largest industrial city, producing goods (consumer white goods, clothing, shoes, and agricultural equipment) and services (per esempio., one of Latin America’s largest contact centers). Manizales also had 35,000 university students, one of Colombia’s highest concentrations per capita. In 2010, five of the city’s seven universities formed a loose Sistema de Universidades de Manizales (SUMA) to facilitate sharing of classes and other resources. The World Bank ranked Manizales highly on “quality of life” and “business friendliness,” and citizens viewed Manizales as a safe enclave, even during Colombia’s worst drug wars.14 consortium, the Despite Manizales’ advantages, job oppor- tunities for college graduates were limited, unemployment was in the high teens, and the city had been plagued by floods, earth- quakes, and fires.15 In 2010, BEEP inter- viewers repeatedly heard that many stu- dents came to Manizales to study and then moved to other larger cities for work. It was also common to hear stories of people in their fifties returning to Manizales to take advantage of the high quality of life. Manizales-Mas In 2010, Manizales began discussions with BEEP about conducting Manizales-Mas, a project to stimulate economic development. Since that time, Manizales-Mas has evolved through roughly four phases, which for convenience we label (1) activating the stakeholders, (2) aligning the leaders, (3) establishing the execution platform and proof-of-concept programs, E (4) system- atizing and expanding programs and local capacity. sustainable Activating the stakeholders. Manizales-Mas was conceived during meetings in Boston between representatives of the Luker Foundation and Babson College in late 2009 and early 2010.16 Created in 1995, Luker is the nonprofit foundation of a fifth-genera- tion family-owned cacao producer, Casa Luker, headquartered in Manizales. In 2009, Luker had concluded that, without econom- ic growth and associated job opportunities, the city would continue to lose its best-edu- cated students. A year-long study resulted in a revised mission that included a strategic plan to combine investment in education with an entrepreneurship intervention to job opportunities. create Between February and May of the following year, Luker funded BEEP to conduct an activation process. The process consisted of group and individual interviews with more than 120 leaders from government, busi- ness, finance, università, churches, and labor unions. The activation phase culmi- nated in a series of town hall-type work- shops, during which hundreds of the city’s leaders heard and debated BEEP’s observa- tions and ideas for developing entrepre- neurship in Manizales. Following two large workshops with virtually all the local stake- holders participating, there was wide enthu- siasm for implementing a BEEP project in the region. Following the workshops, the innovations / volume 11, number 1/2 65 Scaricato da http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/1-2/60/705202/inov_a_00248.pdf by guest on 08 settembre 2023 Daniel Isenberg and Vincent Onyemah city’s public, business, labor, and civic lead- ers sent a jointly signed official letter to Babson College’s president, inviting Babson to partner with the city’s institutions to cre- ate “fundamental” change. This led to a nonbinding memorandum of understand- ing between the college and a number of local institutions, including the Luker Foundation, to collaborate in spurring eco- nomic growth in Manizales. A strategic decision was made not to invest resources in diagnosing, measuring, or mapping the entrepreneurship ecosystem of Manizales, despite the existence of well- developed indices and mapping methodolo- gies.17 The rationale for this is detailed else- Dove, but it includes the time and financial resources that would have been consumed, the omnibus nature of many of the indica- tori, and the highly complex link between description and prescription in complex social systems.18 We also believed that the process of implementing certain programs would efficiently yield practical information about the obstacles facing companies with growth ambitions. Aligning the leaders. Over the ensuing almost two years, BEEP and Luker dis- cussed, at times heatedly, a long-term proj- ect with the objective of fostering tangible growth in Manizales’ economy. The several reasons for the unexpectedly lengthy incu- bation period included: • • Luker’s implementation of BEEP’s rec- ommendation to persuade a cross-section of local institutions to collectively fund and oversee Manizales-Mas to ensure a broad commitment to Manizales-Mas’s outcomes The intrinsically complex nature of impacting a city’s entire ecosystem, com- pounded by the lack of precedent-setting examples to refer to, which led to many different perceptions of the objectives, processi, and program • Differences between BEEP and the local stakeholders regarding concepts of entre- preneurship, entrepreneurship ecosystem, and methods of measuring impact • Differences between BEEP and the local stakeholders regarding the degree to which it would be possible to specify actions and measure outcomes during the first 12-month contract period An example of conceptual differences is that some stakeholders insisted on prioritizing an increase in the number of startups in Manizales, whereas the BEEP professionals insisted that the core objective should be firm growth. An example of differences in programs is that BEEP professionals assert- ed that it would be more effective to specify the initial months of activity and revise plans for the rest of the year thereafter. The local stakeholders, on the other hand, insist- ed on specificity throughout the entire 12- month implementation. In retrospect, one outcome of the lengthy activation and alignment periods was that, when the Babson-Manizales agreement was signed with explicit deliverables and pro- grams, a group of 11 local stakeholders had a strong collective commitment to the suc- cess of Manizales-Mas.19 During the “aligning the leaders” process, BEEP led intense discussion and debate about the specific objectives. During and as a result of this process, BEEP developed a heuristic in order to focus stakeholders on the purpose of Manizales-Mas: for every 100,000 population, one firm would enter into a significantly more rapid growth tra- jectory (that is, become a scaleup) every year. This was presented to the leaders not as an end goal but as a proxy for a “tipping point” at which time a virtuous cycle among firm growth, capital deployment, capital formation, and other spillovers would be evidenced. Execution platform and proof-of-concept. The first 12 months of intensive and exten- sive activity began in June 2012, after which 66 innovazioni / Thriving Cities Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/1-2/60/705202/inov_a_00248.pdf by guest on 08 settembre 2023 Fostering ScaleUp Ecosystems for Regional Economic Growth the consensus was to continue Manizales- Mas, which is still ongoing. With profes- sional guidance from the BEEP team, a plat- form was established that has grown to include (see “Exhibit” section for additional details): following elements the • • • Project team. A local project team leader was hired (with BEEP input) by the local stakeholders. The team leader reports administratively to the general manager of Luker and professionally to BEEP. The leader hired and manages a project team consisting of communications and aca- demic coordination directors, an admin- istrative assistant, and several team mem- bers assigned on a part-time basis by the stakeholders; full-time coordinators of the Scalerator program and special activi- ties were later added to the team. The purpose of the project team is to support the professional team (Babson) as much as possible in executing all of the Manizales-Mas programs, including pilot programs; to take responsibility for scal- ing up successful pilots and repeat execu- tions of the Manizales-Mas programs; to initiate new programs that the project team itself could execute, with advice from the professional team; to manage the communications program; to coordi- nate BEEP contract renewals; and to report to the executive committee. Project software. A project management software platform consisting of an “industrial strength” application has been implemented and is used by all project team members. The purpose of the proj- ect management platform is to ensure coordination, timely execution, and effi- cient use of resources.20 Governance—steering committee. A steer- ing committee was formed that consists of representatives of the 11 stakeholders. The purpose of the steering committee is to negotiate and approve the BEEP con- tract; to provide input to and approval of the annual project plan; to provide input to and approval of the communications • • • strategy; and to provide ongoing support to the various Manizales-Mas programs (per esempio., promotion, participation, guidance). Since the project’s inception, the steering committee composition has changed very little. Governance—executive committee. Midway through 2013, at BEEP’s sugges- zione, the steering committee established a four-member executive committee to meet more frequently with the project and professional teams (see details later in this paper). The executive committee has authority to make modifications in the deliverables and can be convened on short notice to provide guidance to the project team. Governance—academic committee. The steering committee also created an aca- demic committee consisting of an aca- demic coordinator and one representa- tive from each of the five SUMA universi- ties. All representatives are SUMA faculty who teach entrepreneurship. The purpose of the academic committee is to propose and support programs, which are run by BEEP, and to train faculty in teaching entrepreneurship and running nonacade- mic entrepreneurship programs. Professional team. Over time, BEEP creat- ed a professional team of Babson faculty and program administrators, including a nearly full-time program manager fluent in Spanish, and a nearly full-time project director, who has overall responsibility for executing the BEEP contract and meeting the deliverables.21 The BEEP pro- fessional team consists of approximately ten Babson faculty who are responsible for specific Manizales-Mas programs. The BEEP professional team meets monthly to share updates on Manizales- Mas and to identify and amplify synergies among the programs. Inoltre, faculty members responsible for different pro- grams meet frequently with the program manager and director to design and exe- cute specific programs. Non-Babson innovations / volume 11, number 1/2 67 Scaricato da http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/1-2/60/705202/inov_a_00248.pdf by guest on 08 settembre 2023 Daniel Isenberg and Vincent Onyemah experts (per esempio., the MIT Venture Mentoring Service) have been contracted in the event that, in the judgment of the project direc- tor, they could provide more appropriate specific expertise. Some of the above structures were guided by written policies and procedures, such as a clear delineation of the responsibilities of the project team on the one hand and the steering committee and executive commit- tee on the other. Manizales-Mas Programs The core programs of Manizales-Mas com- menced in 2012. Unless specified otherwise, the major programs during 2012-2015 are listed in approximate chronological order of their introduction. The programs to train local faculty are specified in the section on systematization and expansion. Scalerator program. The Scalerator (Empresas de Alto Potencial, or High Potential Ventures) program spans six months and has about 15 companies per cohort. Each Scalerator program consists of four components: 1 Seven 1.5-day workshops. The workshops are conducted by faculty with extensive teaching and practical experience, and they focus primarily on sales and sales management, human resources and lead- ership, and operational finance.22 The workshops are highly interactive and focus on the application of all concepts to the specifics of each of the company par- ticipants. During six-month Scalerator program, each company’s owners and team prepare and execute a detailed plan to grow their revenues at a much faster rate than the pre-Scalerator era. IL 2 Peer-to-Peer program. The Peer-to-Peer program consists of exercises held in between workshops, conducted without faculty by groups of three companies each. The programs are designed to prepare 3 4 participants for the upcoming workshop and build a culture of mutual support among Scalerator companies. One of the unintended consequences of the program and other interparticipant activities is that approximately one-third of the par- ticipants begin new business relationships with other participants. Mentoring sessions by Scalerator faculty. Mentoring sessions are held remotely once or twice with each company during the Scalerator program to monitor and assist the companies in developing and executing their accelerated growth plans. Ecosystem “plug-in” programs. These pro- grams are of two types. One brings local ecosystem stakeholders from each of the six domains—bankers, public officials, educators, government officials, large company executives, support organiza- tions—to observe the Scalerator, meet the participants, and connect them with ecosystem resources. By observing the Scalerator companies, the stakeholders themselves become more clearly focused on growth-related phenomena as they manifest. An example would be a Scalerator visit by the mayor, who might solicit ideas from participants on what the city can do to support and promote com- pany growth. The second type of plug-in program engages the Scalerator partici- pants in non-Scalerator activities, such as large corporation CEO forums, lavoro- shops with the banking sector, and the like, which are also part of the entrepre- neurship ecosystem platform. The Scalerator is only for companies that have passed a minimal sales threshold (approximately $200,000, which is the
equivalent of about a $1,000,000 company in the U.S. in terms of headcount), and a scalable business model. Neither firm sector nor firm age is used in selection. Some of the most rapidly growing participants are companies that may have experienced little or no growth for one or two generations of ownership. Generally speaking, roughly 50 68 innovazioni / Thriving Cities Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/1-2/60/705202/inov_a_00248.pdf by guest on 08 settembre 2023 Fostering ScaleUp Ecosystems for Regional Economic Growth percent of the applicants that pass the rev- enue threshold and complete an application have been accepted into the Scalerator— therefore it is not highly selective. The Scalerator has multiple purposes in the context of Manizales-Mas. One is to encourage the non-Scalerator participants to be more growth oriented by showcasing growth events. Most educators, public offi- cials, NGOs, and foundation leaders, although they may espouse economic growth in their regions, do not have a clear concept of what growth looks like on the ground. These grounded “growth events” consist of the myriad short-term precursors or lead indicators of growth, such as new hires, facilities expansions, sales agree- menti, new financing, export contracts, and the like. Giving leaders examples to refer to when they discuss policies or interventions helps focus their efforts and resources. A second purpose of the Scalerator program is that it is convenient for explaining one of the effects of Manizales-Mas because it is relatively easy to measure its impact on the participants. The three completed cohorts of Manizales-Mas (as well as the two Scale Up Milwaukee cohorts) have been consis- tently experiencing new growth (on average 25 percent to 50 per cento) with the typically associated new hires within a year of finish- ing the Scalerator.23 Leadership and policy training. Daniel Isenberg conducts an annual three-day leadership retreat to align and engage a broader circle of leaders from public, pri- vate, educational, and civic institutions. The retreat is also attended by the project team, the steering council, and representatives of the academic committee. Two leadership training programs were held at Babson, with about 25 people attending each one, and one was held offsite in Colombia, con 55 people attending. The highly interactive program consists of case studies, lectures and exercises on entrepreneurship ecosys- tems and growth, reviews of Manizales-Mas projects, and action-planning exercises and projects designed to enhance the effective- ness and impact of Manizales-Mas. The leadership programs have significantly influenced the commitment to Manizales- Mas objectives and programs. Non- Manizales national institutions invited non- Manizales national (per esempio., national banks, government agencies, NGOs, foundations) have been invited as observers, resulting in increased engage- ment and even funding from outside of Manizales. institutions Communications. An active communica- tions program was initiated at the begin- ning of Manizales-Mas with the overarch- ing purpose of catalyzing and maximizing spillover effects from Manizales-Mas and its specific programs to the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Per esempio, Scalerator partici- pants’ specific growth events were commu- nicated through social and other media in order to increase the aspiration levels of a larger number of local entrepreneurs. The initial communications strategy, which remained largely unchanged, was prepared by the project team, communications direc- tor, and the BEEP professional team, and presented to the steering committee for dis- cussion and approval. Important compo- nents of the Manizales-Mas communica- tions program included the following: • Branding. The project team developed the project name and logo immediately after signing the agreement between Manizales and BEEP. The initial proposal generated a significant amount of controversy with- in the steering committee because the ini- tial logo (Manizales-Up) reminded some members of the logo of the 1980s radical political party UP. Manizales-Mas (which means Manizales more) was subsequently agreed upon. The suffix “Mas” was subse- quently adopted in several of the specific programs (see later section). • Celebratory events. Numerous communi- tywide events celebrated Manizales-Mas and its achievements throughout the region. These included the launch of innovations / volume 11, number 1/2 69 Scaricato da http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/1-2/60/705202/inov_a_00248.pdf by guest on 08 settembre 2023 Daniel Isenberg and Vincent Onyemah • • Manizales-Mas in July 2012, for which the mayor closed off a section of the city. A stage was constructed, bands played music, E 3,000 balloons were launched, all of which was covered by regional media. Similar annual events have been held, as well as frequent public lectures and panel discussions on various aspects of entrepreneurship. Social media. The Manizales-Mas com- munications program has included active social media campaigns since the pro- ject’s inception. For example, during an event highlighting the achievements of women entrepreneurs in the region, the event was designated one of the top media trending events in Colombia. Public-sector leader communications. Numerous videos featuring public leaders have been created and publicized, includ- ing a public video address by Colombian president Jose Manuel Santos, in which President Santos labeled Manizales-Mas one of the most important projects in Colombia.24 Additional communications have been published by various ministers, the mayor, and the head of Colombia’s innovation agency. Although most of the communications are in Spanish, a number of English-language international communications have collec- tively given Manizales-Mas global visibility. Professor Hugo Kantis visited Manizales- Mas from Argentina for three days as a con- sultant, and he published a commentary on the project.25 One of the authors (Isenberg) has mentioned Manizales-Mas in global keynote speeches and articles and blog posts, and has published a case study on Manizales-Mas. Financing ecosystem. Financing programs were introduced in Manizales to enhance the “discovery” process between sources of capital (debt and equity investors) and channels of deployment (entrepreneurial ventures).26 These programs have taken into account that Colombia does not have a well- developed financial entrepreneurial ecosys- tem, and neither private equity nor public capital markets are available to high- growth, relatively small firms, nor would rational equity investors deploy their capital in small, high-growth private firms, due to the lack of markets for the firms’ stock. More specifically, five assumptions underlie Manizales-Mas activities in the finance area: 1 2 3 4 5 The sufficient capital in the region could in principle be redeployed to fund most new growth that would be directly and indirectly stimulated by Manizales-Mas. This capital had not “discovered” that one productive avenue of capital deploy- ment would be companies that entered into new rapid growth trajectories. The discovery process between capital sources and channels of deployment would be more effective and efficient if market forces were first allowed to func- tion in shaping the deal flow, naturally culling out some less viable ventures, and accelerating growth in those companies with viable products and the capacity to execute. Those market forces could be accelerated by training entrepreneurs to address investors’ needs. Following points 3 E 4 above, develop- ment of new investment vehicles and deal structures could take advantage of the discovery process while partially com- pensating for the lack of liquidity of com- panies’ stocks. Numerous specific programs were imple- mented to address the above, such as ongo- ing training on the “sell side,” including public training sessions for actual and aspir- ing entrepreneurs of all ages (including youth). This covered topics such as invest- ment readiness, pitching to investors, and engaging with banks. Additional ongoing training on the “buy side” included training sessions for dozens of bank officers and potential early stage private investors. UN 70 innovazioni / Thriving Cities Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/1-2/60/705202/inov_a_00248.pdf by guest on 08 settembre 2023 Fostering ScaleUp Ecosystems for Regional Economic Growth “financial innovations” think tank also con- vened in Manizales (following several months of interviews and discussions) and was attended by Colombian investors, sen- ior bank executives, the private equity trade association, national foundations, and pub- lic-sector representatives. The outcomes from the think tank include a new fund organization by private investors and gov- ernment lobbying to update regulatory frameworks for private equity. Mentoring program. Since the start of Manizales-Mas, high priority has been placed on creating an effective regional resource to provide growth-aspiring entre- preneurs with mentoring from experienced local business people and professionals. Following training programs with MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Manizales, mentors (30 were selected out of more than 140 applica- zioni) and a local NGO, in close coordina- tion with the Manizales-Mas project team, began to administer Mentor-Mas, while BEEP professionals supplemented the pro- gram with ongoing short training sessions. Since its inception, these 30 mentors have held more than 470 sessions with 41 compa- nies. Mentor-Mas has been presented as a best practice by the MIT Venture Mentoring Service. Numerous anecdotes have been reported of mentors having had a large positive impact on companies’ growth, and the national reputation of Mentor-Mas has brought new investors to Manizales, based on the perception that Mentor-Mas improves the attractiveness of potential investments. that University-related entrepreneurship accel- erators. By design, university-related, start- up-oriented programs in Manizales-Mas followed the the demonstration Scalerator and other activities could actually stimulate new growth in existing compa- nies. The assumption was that local growth role models would positively impact the demonstration that growth was achievable, and the Scalerator participants themselves could be useful mentors for early-stage entrepreneurs. ADDVenture-Mas, modeled after Babson’s Summer Venture Accelerator and focused on post-idea startups affiliated with SUMA universities, was implemented shortly following the start of the second Scalerator cohort. Startup-Mas was imple- mented the following year as an even earli- er-stage program focusing on opportunity identification.27 Scalerator participants have played an active role as guest presenters and mentors in both programs, as planned. Following the initial year, BEEP staff hand- ed off leadership of these programs to facul- ty and staff of the SUMA university entre- preneurship departments or related units. entrepreneurs; Additional programs. Space constraints prevent description of all the programs and activities of Manizales-Mas beyond a listing. These have included training of SUMA administrators in entrepreneurial thought and action; workshops with large local com- panies to facilitate their engagement with local conferences on women’s entrepreneurship; export delega- tions to Chile; a “growth survey” assessing hundreds of companies’ perceptions of the region’s conduciveness to growth; advising the mayor on communications infrastruc- ture; and a training program for all major local NGOs and entrepreneurship support organizations. The unifying theme of all of these activities has been to foster more growth in more and more companies by impacting all six domains of the entrepre- neurship ecosystem. Systematizing and Expanding Programs Since the start of Manizales-Mas, BEEP and the stakeholders have collaborated to build local capacity to implement the Manizales- Mas programs independently of BEEP’s professional team. This has been achieved with Mentor-Mas, most ADDVenture-Mas, Startup-Mas, and the communications programs. This fourth sec- tion describes the main programs designed specifically to create entrepreneurship edu- notably innovations / volume 11, number 1/2 71 Scaricato da http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/1-2/60/705202/inov_a_00248.pdf by guest on 08 settembre 2023 Daniel Isenberg and Vincent Onyemah cation capacity on the assumption that this is an essential component of systematizing, sustaining, and scaling up Manizales-Mas. Program for modules for entrepreneur- ship educators. Based on Babson’s experi- ence in conducting programs for entrepre- neurship educators for more than a decade, BEEP faculty have conducted four individ- ual 2-3-day workshops for entrepreneur- ship faculty in Manizales, teaching topics such as sales, strategy, marketing, and so on. Global affiliates program. Two cohorts of two and three SUMA faculty selected by the Babson entrepreneurship department have spent a semester each in residence on the Babson campus attending classes, writing cases, meeting with assigned faculty men- tori, studying the Babson curriculum, and participating in executive education pro- grams.28 Participants of completed cohorts have played an active role in Manizales-Mas upon returning to Colombia. They support many of the Manizales-Mas programs by providing professional and academic inputs. full year of High-potential professors program. In the implementation, third Manizales-Mas created a cohort of 11 SUMA entrepreneurship faculty to partici- pate in a specially designed nine-month program consisting of six remote work- shops led by BEEP, two on-site workshops, and observation of Scalerator workshops by visiting BEEP faculty.29 This program was immediately followed by a seminar reflect- ing on the teaching methods used during the workshop. Each of the SUMA profes- sors conceived of and executed a teaching project that he or she presented to the other program faculty. Outcome Measurement Since the inception of Manizales-Mas in 2010, its stakeholders have invested approx- imately $2.4 million, consisting of approxi-
mately 80 percent cash payments to Babson
and the rest in tangible in-kind payment

(per esempio., project team salaries).30 Has this
investment been worthwhile? Although the
consensus across a broad spectrum of pri-
vate and public institutions in Manizales is
that it has been essential to the region’s revi-
talization, it is well known that measuring
entrepreneurship ecosystems and how they
are developing or changing is very com-
plex.31 Furthermore, there are no accepted
standards for such measurement, and it is
even more complex to show causality
between the interventions and the out-
comes.32 However, some imperfect proxies
indicate positive outcomes.

indicators of

Social progress. In September 2015, IL
Social Progress Imperative released its
report of Social Progress Indicators, con
specific
cities within
Colombia.33 Porter singled out Manizales in
his preface: “The city of Manizales, best
known for their coffee and their schools, ha
recorded higher levels of social progress
than the capital city of Bogota, while aver-
age income in Bogota is 1.3 times higher.
The growing social progress of Manizales is
highly correlated with increases in income,
reduction of inequality and poverty reduc-
tion.” The report authors were unaware of
Manizales-Mas. Although we cannot attrib-
ute causality to Manizales-Mas, the data are
consistent with
Quello
Manizales-Mas plays a causal role, as the
social progress indicators in Manizales have
increased since 2010.

the hypothesis

Company growth. At a more micro level,
the performance of all participants in the
Scalerator program have been tracked
before and after
their participation.
Qualitative interviews suggest that partici-
pants tie growth outcomes to specific les-
the program.
sons and exercises
Nevertheless, whereas we
believe
Manizales-Mas played some causal role, IL
data can be accounted for by alternative
explanations. Some of the key outcomes for
Scalerator participants include the follow-
ing:

•

55 percent average revenue growth (com-

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Fostering ScaleUp Ecosystems for Regional Economic Growth

paring the 12 months pre- and post-par-
ticipation). The growth rates were 88 per-
cent, 34 per cento, E 43 percent for the
three cohorts, rispettivamente.

More than 80 percent experienced new
growth

703 new jobs created

About $3 million of new debt and equity
financing

1,071 new customers (for non-consumer
products and services)

First-time exporting by five Scalerator
participants

•

Community and academic engagement.
The Manizales-Mas
formal programs
appear to have had a broad effect. As of
agosto 2014,

•

more than 8,000 people had participated
in one or more Manizales-Mas events;

66 courses in entrepreneurship and entre-
preneurship-related subjects reported
significant curriculum changes; E

166 video contents had been created,
viewed by 14,000 people.

Spillover Effects

Although BEEP projects explicitly attempt
to catalyze positive spillover effects (per esempio.,
growth by the Scalerator participants is
intended to facilitate growth by nonpartici-
pants), these and other spillover effects in
broad regional economic interventions are
notoriously difficult to measure.34 In
Manizales-Mas at this point it is only possi-
ble to report qualitative, unsystematic evi-
dence. In the case of Manizales-Mas, there
have been numerous anecdotal reports of
local business owners being inspired by the
publicized and otherwise communicated
examples of Scalerator participants growing
their firms. These growth events are consis-
tently reported in the local media (highly

concentrated in print and radio) and dis-
cussed at family and social gatherings.
Inoltre, some of the consumer prod-
ucts and service companies themselves are
publicly visible, as is their expansion (per esempio., In
opening new store locations). Although
these need to be measured more systemati-
cally, dozens of the stakeholders have
reported to BEEP that the atmosphere of
growth, including aspiration levels, Avere
changed more broadly in the city. IL
Social Progress Index findings are consis-
tent with this belief.

Scale Up Milwaukee

Before presenting some practical conclu-
sions from the BEEP projects, it is potential-
ly informative to briefly compare the expe-
rience from Scale Up Milwaukee, a BEEP-
affiliated project that completed its proof-
of-concept phase in late 2015. Although
Scale Up Milwaukee has had less time to
develop than Manizales-Mas, it is particu-
larly interesting to compare them because
of their similar assumptions, programs, E
structure, and their very different environ-
menti. Compared with Manizales,
Milwaukee is an advanced economy. It has
about three times the metropolitan popula-
tion and about 20 times the economic activ-
ità, with easy access to export markets via
O’Hare airport and a long legacy of manu-
facturing and business excellence. IL
Milwaukee region hosts the headquarters of
leading multinational companies. including
Manpower, Johnson Controls, Briggs and
Stratton, GE Healthcare, Rockwell
Automation, Kohl’s Department Stores,
Northwest Mutual, and other large, if less
well known, corporations.

Scale Up Milwaukee was launched with the
financial and communications support of
the American Express OPEN division,
which was the initiator of Small Business
Saturday, a highly visible initiative to stimu-
late sales of small businesses in the United
States. Scale Up Milwaukee also has been
supported by the Wisconsin Economic

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Daniel Isenberg and Vincent Onyemah

Development Corporation, private founda-
zioni, and private individual donors. IL
primary BEEP partner
in Scale Up
Milwaukee has been the Greater Milwaukee
Committee, a civic organization formed in
the late 1940s to initiate projects that con-
tribute to the cultural and economic base of
the greater Milwaukee. The committee’s
membership comprises leaders in business,
professional services, labor, formazione scolastica, phi-
lanthropy, nonprofit, and community
development.

Scale Up Milwaukee and
Manizales-Mas: Key Similarities
and Differences

Scale Up Milwaukee and Manizales-Mas
have the following significant similarities:

•

Both have a small, dedicated project team
to develop and execute the project pro-
gramming. Both report to the key execu-
tion partner (Luker and the Greater
Milwaukee Committee, rispettivamente)
administratively, and to the BEEP staff
for professional guidance.

Both have an advisory council with local
leaders representing a broad cross-sec-
tion of sectors volunteering their time
and support (the Scale Up Milwaukee
“steering council” has neither formal
authority nor officially represents the
funding stakeholders).

Both have structures for engaging larger
groups of stakeholders through taskforces
(in the case of Scale Up Milwaukee) O
committees (in the case of the Manizales-
Mas academic committee).

Both have one lead local partner involved
in all aspects of formulating, finanziamenti, E
executing the project. We view these part-
ners as having particular local promi-
nence and influence.

Both have significant communications
campaigns (Manizales-Mas has had a
communications director
dedicated

throughout the project, whereas Scale Up
Milwaukee has had part-time communi-
cations support), which have generated
significant national and global interest.

Both have near-identical Scalerator pro-
grams with nearly identical faculty, con-
tent, and cohort sizes.

Both have achieved similar outcomes in
terms of expanded firm growth, new cus-
tomer acquisition, job creation, export
enhancement, and new investments.

•

While we view these similarities as greater
than the differences, we are aware of the
likelihood that these similarities may in part
be artifacts of our own views of what inter-
ventions are required for regional economic
growth. By the same token, the differences
between Scale Up Milwaukee
E
Manizales-Mas may partly reflect the differ-
ent maturity levels and ages of the projects,
Piuttosto
differences.
Nevertheless, some differences between the
two projects appear to be substantive:

intrinsic

•

Engagement of the larger corporation
sector in Scale Up Milwaukee is signifi-
cantly greater, and it has been fueled by a
specially created quarterly forum. Questo
forum allows large corporate CEOs to
candidly discuss their growth and inno-
vation strategies, including how to engage
with growth-oriented local entrepreneurs.
This difference may be due simply to the
more extensive presence of large compa-
ny headquarters in the Milwaukee area.

replicated

The mentoring program in Manizales-
Mas has not been
In
Milwaukee, in part due to funding priori-
ties and in part due to the availability of
existing de facto mentoring resources in
Milwaukee in the form of professional
services firms and peer-to-peer forums.35

Whereas the leadership of Manizales-Mas
has participated annually in the three-day
leadership training, intensive training for
the stakeholders has not occurred in
Milwaukee, or it has occurred in 2-3-hour

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Fostering ScaleUp Ecosystems for Regional Economic Growth

•

sessions that are less pedagogical and
more practical.

funded

In Manizales-Mas virtually all of the
funding came from local stakeholders for
the initial three years, and national fun-
ders have joined only as the project has
matured. Scale Up Milwaukee was initial-
through national grants
ly
(American Express) or state funds (per esempio.,
Wisconsin Economic Development
Corporation), and only recently has the
level of financial support from local foun-
dations and donors become a significant
portion of the budget.

Scale Up Milwaukee has explicitly adopt-
ed and regularly communicates the num-
ber of new growth firms targeted by the
project. This started out as 60 within five
years, which reflects about one per
100,000 population per year. The project
team later revised this target to 200 within
six years, and this has been communicat-
ed as an explicit target. In Manizales-Mas,
no explicit target has been set in terms of
a number of firms with new growth,
although there has been consistent
emphasis on measuring the growth of
Scalerator and other firms.

Conclusions and Key Takeaways:
Principles of Scale Up™
Ecosystems

It is useful, at least as a heuristic, to exploit
BEEP’s five years of experience fostering
regional ecosystems for scaleup entrepre-
neurship to hypothesize about which action
prescriptions can be generalized. Of partic-
ular interest have been the two longest run-
ning projects, Manizales-Mas and Scale Up
Milwaukee, because the two regional envi-
ronments represent a high degree of hetero-
geneity (cultural, historical, economic, eth-
nic, geographic, among others).

Assuming that the outcomes and causal
paths to the outcomes of Manizales-Mas
and Scale Up Milwaukee are meaningful,

particularly in light of the contextual het-
erogeneity, the overarching takeaway is that
there is a significant amount of “design re-
use” in scaleup ecosystem projects, includ-
ing the governance structures, the project
team organization, the Scalerator program,
and the stakeholder alignment and spillover
processes. We offer a few more specific
hypothesized principles about which com-
monalities can be generalized from these
two projects to a bigger set of regions and
translated into prescriptions.

Identify a region with a moderately dense
metro population. The BEEP experience
suggests hypothetical upper and lower
bounds of size. Manizales is close to 0.5 mil-
lion, and Milwaukee is closer to 1.5 million.
While there is no reason to conclude that
these by coincidence represent specific
lower and upper bounds, the underlying
operative factors include the ability of the
leaders from the different domains to expe-
rience a sense of responsibility for the pro-
ject’s outcomes. In order to agree on and
achieve those outcomes, they must be able
to meet with each other face to face, for the
process of alignment as well as to facilitate
spillover effects. Tuttavia, below a hypo-
thetical lower bound there may not be the
critical mass in the region of human, finan-
cial, and other resources. Again, as a heuris-
tic, the population bounds are hypothesized
to be approximately from a few hundred
thousand to 1.5 A 2 million people.36

Within the specified region, identify influ-
encers (formal or informal leaders) in each
of the six entrepreneurship ecosystem
domains and engage them to secure their
alignment with and commitment to a set
of objectives. From the outset in Manizales-
Mas, E
in Scale Up
Milwaukee, the local business, civic, educa-
tional, and public leaders are becoming sup-
portive of and committed to generating new
growth in more and more regional compa-
nies.

increasingly

Set objectives for the number and time-
frame of companies to enter into measura-

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Daniel Isenberg and Vincent Onyemah

bly more rapid scaleup trajectories. IL
BEEP experience suggests that the heuristic
of one newly growing company each year
per 100,000 population is “directionally cor-
rect” enough that the risks of misspecifica-
tion are likely to be lower than the risks of
not having quantifiable objectives at all.37
Inoltre, the BEEP experience suggests
that framing the objectives in terms of firm
growth has the practical advantage of focus-
ing the stakeholders’ attention and activities
on inducing more rapid growth in more
firms.

Compose funding, at least in significant
part, from a cross-section of local funders.
It is BEEP’s experience that, although
Luker’s strategic decision to persuade a
broad group of local stakeholders to fund
Manizales-Mas took a long time to imple-
ment, the benefits in terms of those stake-
holders’ commitment to the success of
Manizales-Mas was crucial in sustaining the
effort. In the case of Scale Up Milwaukee,
more than half of the initial seed funding
was from a nonlocal stakeholder (American
Express), Quale
allowed Scale Up
Milwaukee’s programming to be launched
very quickly. In transitioning from the
proof-of-concept phase to scaling up the
programming, the large majority of the
funding is coming from local and state
stakeholders. It is the authors’ impression
Quello, whereas this process has been more
difficult than the activating and aligning
phases, the process of local fundraising has
galvanized a broad cross-section of stake-
holders to support and prioritize Scale Up
Milwaukee, and to support its objectives
privately and publicly.

Continually escalate and broaden activa-
tion and alignment. The experiences of
both Scale Up Milwaukee and Manizales-
Mas strongly suggest that the activation and
alignment of a broad cross-section of stake-
holders is both cause and effect, E
although it is convenient to describe the
process in linear phases, the reality is that
the phases interact in cyclical or spiral fash-
ion. In both projects, many of the current

stakeholders were not stakeholders at the
outset, but this is the case, particularly in
Scale Up Milwaukee. Rather than view the
incomplete initial commitment as a weak-
ness or shortcoming, it is possible that
incomplete commitment is natural and
should be expected and planned for.38

Generate “quick wins” by focusing on
firms with an existing revenue base. One of
the rationales for the Scalerator program is
that it can generate relatively rapid demon-
stration effects, and the rapidity is impor-
tant to catalyze stakeholders’ spiraling com-
mitment. We believe that the ability to show
all of the stakeholders, as well as the entre-
preneurs themselves, Quello (for example)
they can have significant new growth events
within a few months, and in some cases
weeks, provides a unique stimulus for fur-
ther commitment to invest in growth.

Communicate from the outset that BEEP
will have a time-limited presence and that
local stakeholders will eventually develop
and execute all of the local programming.
One of BEEP’s strategic objectives is to
strengthen the local institutions so they can
take over the development and execution of
the programs. This principle is important
for several reasons, the most obvious of
which is perhaps the effective use of finite
resources. Perhaps a more subtle reason is
to signal to the local economic development
agencies that the success of the BEEP proj-
ect will increase their own success as well.

CONCLUSION

Space prevents the presentation of an
exhaustive
list of the principles and
methodologies that comprise BEEP—the
reality of instigating or catalyzing economic
change in a region defies simplistic pre-
scription. Nevertheless, the cases and their
IL
outcomes presented herein, E
authors’ attempts to codify them, suggest
that these methodologies are worthy of fur-
ther experimentation, discussion, E
apprendimento.

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Fostering ScaleUp Ecosystems for Regional Economic Growth

Governance Authorities and
Responsibilities in Manizales-Mas39

Steering Committee (SC)—formal authority

•

Approve continuation or cancelation of
Manizales-Mas/Babson contract at end of
each contract period

Approve annual strategic plan
Manizales-Mas

for

Approve mission statement and any
modifications

Approve decisionmaking authority of
Executive Committee (EC)

Approve appointment, removal of EC
members

Approve major modifications of the
Manizales-Mas plan

Approve the annual general communica-
tions strategy for Manizales-Mas and any
major modifications of the communica-
tions strategy (execution of the strategy
will be led by Babson and the Project
Team)

• Provide Project Team with input, feed-
back, and connections that lead to more
efficient execution

Executive Committee (EC)—formal authori-
ty

•

Approve changes in Babson contract
deliverables provided that they are con-
sistent with Manizales-Mas strategic plan
and mission

Approve changes in the Project Team
leadership

Regularly communicate Manizales-Mas
progress to SC

Propose the communications strategy to
the SC

Provide Project Team with input, feed-
back, and connections that lead to more

efficient execution

•

Approve the inclusion of new members
(funders) of Manizales-Mas with
Babson’s advice

Propose changes in budget to SC

Propose changes in the agreements
between stakeholders, as per plan

Meet every 15 days or as required by
stakeholders (Babson, PT leader, or SC
members)

Project Team (PT)—formal authority

•

Execute the strategic plan of Manizales-
Mas under the direct supervision of
Babson

Project Team leader will take instructions
from Babson; the PT leader will not take
instructions from the SC or the EC

Present regular updates and communi-
cate regularly with the EC and SC

Upon request of the SC, make reports on
the progress of Manizales-Mas

Any changes in the PT membership,
including the PT leader, will be decided
on jointly by Babson and the EC

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Ross Brown,
Erkko Autio, Anders Hoffman, E
William Kerr for comments on a previous
bozza.

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Aghion and P. Howitt (2008), IL
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Daniel Isenberg and Vincent Onyemah

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Ponzetto (2010), “Clusters of
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Impossible and Stupid: How Entrepreneurs
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on the outcomes, and believe this is at least
partially justified by the highly unpre-
dictable, and even contrarian, nature of
entrepreneurship.

9. N. Ahmad and D. R. Petersen, “High-
and Gazelles:
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Enterprises

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C. Mason and R. Brown (2014),
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(2008), "IL
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(2011),

Isenberg

“Seeding
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Economy, novembre 2.

13. Much of the information for this section is
taken from D. Isenberg (2015), “Manizales-
Mas: Cree, Crea, Crece—Believe, Create,
Grow,” Babson College, Harvard Business
School Publishing, Case#BAB226,
settembre.

14. Ease of Doing Business. Available at

http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/explore
economies/colombia/sub/manizales/

innovazioni / Thriving Cities

Scaricato da http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/1-2/60/705202/inov_a_00248.pdf by guest on 08 settembre 2023

Fostering ScaleUp Ecosystems for Regional Economic Growth

with the support of the authors (Isenberg,
Onyemah).

30. Authors’ estimate.
31. Based on numerous conversations between

the authors and the stakeholders.

32. Stangler and Bell-Masterson, “Measuring”;

Hausmann, “On the Other Hand.”

33. M. Porter and S. Stern, “Social Progress
Index 2015,” Social Progress Imperative.
34. S. Baird, J. Bohren, C. McIntosh, and B.
Ozler, “Designing Experiments to Measure
Spillover Effects,” Institute for Economic
Policy, working paper 214-11, Febbraio
2014.

35. Vedere, per esempio., The Executive Committee.

Available at https://tecmidwest.com/about-
tec/.

36. BEEP has conducted pilot projects and
workshops in Rio de Janeiro (6.5 million
population), Mexico City (10 million),
Istanbul (14 million), and St. Petersburg (5
million), none of which went beyond the
pilot stage. It is the author’s (Isenberg)
impression the large populations impeded
the processes of activation and alignment.
37. Isenberg, “How to Start”; see also S. Coutu,

“The UK Scale Up Report.”

38. In “Management of Entrepreneurial

Ecosystems,” an unpublished manuscript
written in September 2015, E. Autio and J.
Levie present a highly coherent argument
for the need for deep stakeholder engage-
ment when intervening in entrepreneur-
ship ecosystems to facilitate high-growth
entrepreneurship.

39. Isenberg, “How to Start.”

accessed April 11, 2016.

15. Internal Luker Foundation document.
16. Primarily the Luker Foundation general
manager, Ana Maria Gonzales Londono.

17. Vedere, per esempio., J. F. Gauthier (2016), “Hong

Kong Startup Ecosystem Report,” January
26, for a recent example. Available at
http://blog.compass.co/hong-kong/; Z. Acs,
l. Szerb, and E. Autio (2015), “Global
Entrepreneurship Development Index
2014,” Springer.

18. D. Isenberg (2011), “The Entrepreneurship
Ecosystem Strategy as a New Paradigm for
Economic Policy,” Institute for
International European Affairs: Principles
for Cultivating Entrepreneurship,” Dublin,
Ireland. Available at
http://www.wheda.com/uploadedFiles/Web
site/About_Wheda/Babson%20Entreprene
urship%20Ecosystem%20Project.pdf.

19. The stakeholders consisted of the Luker
Foundation, the SUMA universities, IL
municipality, and five NGOs, including the
chamber of commerce.

20. To date, the project team has used Central

Desktop (now iMeetCentral).

21. Sofia Stolberg and Daniel Isenberg, respec-

tively.

. To date the faculty have all been experienced
Babson College faculty members, coordi-
nated and supervised by one of the authors
(Onyemah).

. For new evidence on how external support
can accelerate firm growth, see E. Autio
and H. Rannikko (2016), “Retaining
Winners: Can Policy Boost High-Growth
Entrepreneurship?” Research Policy 4, NO.
1 (Febbraio): 42-55.