I recently gave a presentation to an area Rotary club about the work of our nonprofit. It included a part about the origin of the organization. Aspects of our organization predate its formation as a 501(c)3, as I’m sure is true for just about all organizations.
Before our organization was formed, there were people here that were working hard to make big things happen. I remember taking a trip in 2012 to a conference in a neighboring state with a crew of about 10 to 12. The entrepreneurial event featured some amazing speakers and one presenter, Brad Feld, who had just written a book called Startup Communities. When we came back home to the Vault Coworking and Collaboration Space, a small group of people formed a book club and dug into this new book, learning together how to build an entrepreneurial community.
The book introduced “The Boulder Thesis” and proposed how to build a community where entrepreneurs could thrive.
When I talk to groups around the state about how to support entrepreneurs, I always find a way to come back to this easy read and the concepts it outlined. I often think about economic development and entrepreneurial support as community building. I think about how the motivation to start a book club can inspire action.
One of the first steps communities should take is considering the places that entrepreneurs can gather. If a community is interested in creating a thriving ecosystem for entrepreneurs, they should be thinking about regularly-scheduled events that can provide entrepreneurs opportunities to collaborate with each other. What those events might look like will be different for each community. I always advise that an event where entrepreneurs are allowed to gather doesn’t have to be complicated.
Entrepreneurs should be allowed to lead in the design of their community. In the early days of conceptualizing coworking in the Corridor, this is something we got right. We allowed the entrepreneurs that wanted to use spaces to collaborate to also share their ideas about what those spaces should be. As cities and towns across the state consider what coworking, colocating and collaboration spaces might look like in their communities, let’s always encourage them to do the customer discovery. Ask the freelancers, remote workers, and entrepreneurs what they are looking for in a space. Allow them a seat at the table as concepts are developed. Allow them to tour existing spaces and provide feedback about what works and what doesn’t.
I’m still bullish on the value of exposing people to unlimited possibilities through entrepreneurial education, encouraging people to participate in entrepreneurial experiences. These are simple ways to help people think about ideas, ways to solve problems, and consider possible solutions. Some ideas won’t work and some will. But just about any idea will take a community to turn into a business. Connecting people with a community that is passionate about helping others succeed can be a tremendous economic driver ,and this region has all of the ingredients it needs to thrive. There is still plenty of work to do, but we’ve come a long way in the past 10 years.
At every turn, we are better when we encourage each other to express ideas that can solve real-world problems, helping to be a vital resource to each other, making connections, and asking tough questions as we sort through what steps we need to take to turn ideas into reality and then into sustainable, profitable companies.
David Tominsky is the chief relationship officer at The New Bohemian Innovation Collaborative (NewBoCo).
