Building a Robust Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Network Analysis - Presentation @Facebook Conference

© 2013 Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

www.kauffman.org© 2013 Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

Think Locally, Act Locally

Building a Robust Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Arnobio Morelix

San Francisco, August 15, 2014


Startup Communities and

Local Networks

By:

• Yasuyuki Motoyama

• Jared Konczal

• Jordan Bell-Masterson

• Arnobio Morelix

Motoyama, Yasuyuki and Konczal, Jared and

Bell-Masterson, Jordan and Morelix, Arnobio,

Think Locally, Act Locally: Building a Robust

Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (April 2014).

Mobile survey, web survey, and Twitter-based

approach


Kauffman Foundation

• The Kauffman Foundation is a private, nonpartisan

foundation.

• Foster entrepreneurship and education.

• Founded by late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing

Marion Kauffman. Based in Kansas City, Mo., $2 billion

endowment.

• Research & Policy Department.

www.kauffman.org

http://www.kauffman.org/


Startup Communities

• Boulder Thesis

1. Led by entrepreneurso Leaders (entrepreneurs) and Feeders (e.g.:

professors, policymakers)

2. Inclusive and diverseo Serial entrepreneurs, beginners, supporters

3. Focused engagemento Entrepreneurial-focused activities VS., for

instance, cocktail parties

4. Long-term commitmento 20+ years timeframe for leaders

Underlying argument: connections and networks are important for the entrepreneurial process


Startup Communities

• Boulder Thesis

1. Led by entrepreneurso Leaders (entrepreneurs) and Feeders (e.g.:

professors, policymakers)

2. Inclusive and diverseo Serial entrepreneurs, beginners, supporters

3. Focused engagemento Entrepreneurial-focused activities VS., for

instance, cocktail parties

4. Long-term commitmento 20+ years timeframe for leaders

Underlying argument: connections and networks at the local level are important for the entrepreneurial process


Research Questions

Who entrepreneurs learn from? Global or local?

“Digital Age” conventional wisdom VS. Feld’s hypothesis

1. Where entrepreneurs in KC get their information from? Local

VS. Global

2. What are the network patterns of the entrepreneurship

program participants in the network among themselves?

3. Do “online” Twitter resemble “offline” networks? How are

these entrepreneurs connected to other entrepreneurship

programs?



1 Million Cups

• Weekly meet ups for entrepreneurs and startups. Primarily tech.

• 250 attendees/week in Kansas City alone.

• Growing nationally.

• 50 different cities, E.g.:o Boulder, CO;

o Chicago, IL;

o Dallas, TX;

o Denver, CO;

o Kansas City, MO;

o San Diego, CA.

• Pilot tool to be expanded. Community we were interested in investigating (+convenience).


Method

• Survey Period: May, 2013 and January, 2014.

• Sample Size: 132 entrepreneurs.o 74 provided Twitter handle.

o Small sample, but not a small sliver of tech entrepreneurs in Kansas City.

• Twitter profiles: 18,929 (2013) and 22,339 (2014) Twitter profiles followed by this group.

• Latent networks: who they follow in common.

• Data Collection:o Mobile survey;

o Web survey;

o Twitter API (who entrepreneurs follow – information flows).


Latent network - 18,929 feeds

• Vast majority followed by 1 or 2 entrepreneurs

• 1% of total feeds, top 10% most followed (weighted)

Source:

Y. Han;

S.J. Goetz

Penn State

Febr. 2014


Descriptive findings

• Entrepreneurs follow entrepreneurs. While the most popular Twitter accounts in the United States belong to celebrities, entrepreneurs are following primarily local entrepreneurship-focused accounts.

• Entrepreneurship as a local phenomenon. The most influential Twitter feeds among the entrepreneurs surveyed are primarily local.

• Online connections resemble offline connections. Twitter following patterns are consistent with ‘offline’ program participation pattern.

• Population:o Most (27%) age 25-34.

o Males outnumber females 2-to-1

o Tech-oriented.


1) Where entrepreneurs in KC get their information from? Local VS. Global

• Who do entrepreneurs in KC follow?

• Where do entrepreneurs get their information from?

• What is the geographical scope?

• Do they look like the average Twitter user?



Source:

Y. Han;

S.J. Goetz

Penn State

Febr. 2014


Most Followed Twitter Feedsby # of followers

# Feeds Followers # Feeds Followers

1 1millioncups 50 11 Prentiss Earl III 26

2 Kauffman Foundation 41 11 Local Ruckus 26

3 Silicon Prairie News 39 13 KC Business Journal 25

4 Launch KC 36 13 Kansas City 25

5 KCSourceLink 35 15 Big Kansas City 23

6 Kauffman Labs 32 15 Adam Arredondo 23

6 KC Startup Village 32 17 Nate Olson 22

8 Mayor Sly James 30 17 Kansas City Star 22

9 Cameron Cushman 28 17 Ryan Weber 22

10 KCNext 27

• Top 20 almost exclusively entrepreneurship-related. “Celebrities” very little represented.


Top 10% most followed feeds, weightedMore local, more followers


Top 10% most followed feeds, weighted


National Figures?

o Kauffman Foundation (40 followers in January 2014);

o Brad Feld (16 followers);

o Startup Weekend (13 followers);

o Mark Cuban (12 followers).

• Mashable, 10 Essential Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter;

• Huffington Post, The 8 Best Entrepreneurs To Follow On Twitter

• TNW (The Next Web), The 25 Most Influential People Tweeting About Entrepreneurship;

• Nibletz, Follow Friday: 50 Startup Related Twitter Accounts To Follow Everywhere Else;

• Under30CEO, 25 Twitter Chats Every Entrepreneur Must Know


2) What are the network patterns of the entrepreneurship program participants in the

network among themselves?

• Within the network, connection over time.

• 35% are more connected with other participants in the

sample.

0

5

10

15

20

0 1 2 3-5 6-9 10-14 15-18

May-13 Jan-14

35 33


3) How are these entrepreneurs connected to other entrepreneurship programs? Do

“online” Twitter resemble “offline” networks?

• Twitter following patterns consistent with “offline”

program participation pattern.


Participation of 1MC attendees in other local networks and programs

(May 2013)

mobile and

web surveys


Descriptive findings

• Despite “digital age” intuition, these entrepreneurs follow

overwhelmingly local entities.

• Entrepreneurs follow mostly entrepreneurs and

entrepreneurship-related accounts.

• Twitter following patterns consistent with “offline”

program participation patterns.


Research Challenges

• More extensive data collection. More locations, more

people, more social networks.

• How representative are social media connections? How

representative are social media populations?


Thank you!

[email protected]

• Let me know of anything I can help you with.