Hardaway sets the pace for committed mentorship and evangelaism among a handful of Arizona professionals who regularly work with fledgling companies and young entrepreneurs – making sure they get the attention and direction they need. In the desert, it takes more than just money and savvy to nurture growth let alone tranform the area into the country’s #1 entrepreneurial region: It takes vision, patience and commitment – embodied by veteran entrepreneur, mentor and angel investor Francine Hardaway and her partners at Stealthmode. Under Derek Neighbors‘ leadership and tireless hard work, Gangplank has recently opened it’s third location, and has inspired others to start similar hybrid acellerators such as LaunchSpot, AZ Disputors, and Cohoots.Īrizona may be in the desert, but there is no Sand Hill Road, like in Silicon Valley, concentrated with billions of dollars in venture capital along valuable connections and advice – the vital fuel for entrepreneurial startups. Each one is a multifaceted combination of active partnerships between entrepreneurs, government, university and community. “Gangplanks” are part incubators, acellerators, hackspaces, workspaces, learning spaces, technology centers and community centers. Rather than placing a few bets that might enrich a few companies and investors, Gangplank is more concerned with building a solid community and a permanent ecosystem for entrepreneurs. Sure, New York and Silicon Valley have acellerators: Programs where they get a half dozen companies to spend a summer hoping to get a prototype they can demo before VCs. And then of course there’s Skysong– which has been been a leader and catalyst, acellerating entrepreneurship activity in the region ever since Gordon McConnell took the helm last year. He made Entrepreneurship a top priority as one of his tenets of “The New American University” Entrepreneurship is embedded in every college and in every department. But the synergy worked, and continues to work – primarily due to these influences:įirst and foremost, Michael Crow, the President of ASU deserves a lot of credit for his leadership. If these efforts weren’t buoyed by other activities and other individuals, they might have fizzled in Arizona too. Some of the efforts were predictable – other regions have used similar techniques and failed. It was a combination of simultaneous and independent efforts by many individuals and institutions, all committed to stimulating entrepreneurship in the region. After 4 years, we hit the top spot in the country for entrepreneurial activity. But it did happen in Arizona- particularly in the Phoenix metro area. Again, without a critical mass of role models (successful entrepreneurs), supporting companies, capital and a culture of risk and innovation – it just doesn’t happen. Phoenix was no different, and it wasn’t the fault of the entrepreneurs or other talented would-be entrepreneurs. Most areas outside of the “big 3” (Silicon Valley, NY, Boston) or the up-and-coming-3 (Denver, Austin, LA) lack the culture, critical mass or role models to sustain a vibrant entrepreneurial community. Needless to say I was cynical and underwhelmed by the scope and quality of the entrepreneurial community, but I wasn’t surprised or disappointed. When I arrived in Arizona 4 years ago to help them build their entrepreneurship program, I had already spent over 15 years in Silicon Valley – the mecca for entrepreneurship (and venture capital). 1 for startups, Kauffman study findsĪrizona had the highest entrepreneurial activity rate of any state last year, according to new research from the Kauffman Foundation. General: PHOENIX=SANTO GRIAL=PENTAGONO=PARALELO 33=NUEVO SILICON VALLEY=MANZANA/APPLEĪrizona No. NUEVO TESTAMENTO III-ESTUDIOS POR VERSICULOS NUEVO TESTAMENTO II-ESTUDIOS POR VERSICULOS ❾S INMORTAL EL ALMA?- FALACIA DE LA ENCARNACION Y REENCARNACIONĮL ISLAM TIENE ORIGEN UNITARIO ADOPCIONISTAĪNTIGUO TESTAMENTO-ESTUDIO POR VERSICULOS ¿LA TORA ES MACHISTA? -MENSAJE ESOTERICO Y EXOTERICO
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