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The Startup

Ecosystem

Canvas

How to Make Your Startup Community More

Transparent

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Fragmentation Kills Startup

Ecosystems

In Startup Communities, Brad Feld (Co-Founder of TechStars and Foundry

Group) describes the dangers of fragmentation. According to Feld,

"fragmentation kills local entrepreneurship", and a “philosophy of

inclusiveness” is a key pillar of a vibrant startup ecosystem.

Fragmentation can’t be fixed overnight, but if you map out your local

ecosystem, then you can immediately make it more transparent and inviting

for newcomers.

Hence, we developed the Startup Ecosystem Canvas to help

startup leaders map their local ecosystem in a framework that

makes it more transparent and inviting for new entrepreneurs.

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The Canvas Template/

Infographic

1. Startup Ecosystem

Canvas Template

Access the free template

2. Startup Ecosystem

Infographic

See a sample

infographic

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Main Components of the Canvas

** It is important to note that Canvas is not meant to provide a rigid roadmap for entrepreneurs

to build a company - rather, it is designed to provide a logically organized map of local

resources to help entrepreneurs on their journey.

THE STAGES: THE

SUPPORTERS:

Idea Stage

Launch Stage

Growth Stage

Evangelists

Government

TalentTHE OUTPUT: Success Stories

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STAGE 1: The Idea Stage

The idea stage is where new and early-st

age entrepreneurs get inspired, learn the

basics and best practices of building tech

nology

companies, develop their skills, validate

their ideas with experts, and begin to buil

d

their team and product.

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1. Startup Media: Startup media typically

provide centralized local startup information,

listings, and news. For the purposes of the

Canvas, these can range from things like local

startup blogs and event listing services (ex.

Startup Digest and F6S), to local mailing lists,

newsletters, Facebook groups, or LinkedIn

Groups.

2. Inspirational Events: These are the

events that welcome people into the startup

community, and inspire those with ideas to

think about launching a company. In most

markets, this includes events like Startup

Weekend, university event series’, idea fairs,

and inspirational Meetups.

Idea-Stage: Inspire

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1. Best Practices: These events are less about

inspiration, and more about knowledge-sharing

and learning the startup best practices. In other

words, these events serve to educate rather

than inspirate. Common examples include 1

Million Cups, Startup Founder 101 Meetups,

Startup Grind, and more.

2. Training & Feedback: With idea in hand,

bootcamps and training programs that provide

feedback can help aspiring entrepreneurs build

and validate their ideas. Examples include

programs like the Founder Institute, General

Assembly, Lean Startup Machine, and more.

Idea-Stage: Educate

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1. Team Formation: Obviously, team

formation for startups is key. While you can

argue that all startup events facilitate

networking and team formation, this section

should only include resources that specifically

facilitate networking and early-stage team-

building; like CoFoundersLab, FounderDating,

and more.

2. Build First Product: Budding entrepreneurs

can get help building (or start building) their

MVP and first versions of their product through

many resources, and the most common ones

include hackathons, builder-focused events

and workshops, and more.

Idea-Stage: Validate

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In this stage, entrepreneurs establish

and formalize the company, develop

their product, get feedback from

customers, and prepare for the next

step.

STAGE 2: The Launch

Stage

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1. Establish: This includes resources to

help entrepreneurs set up the legal and

financial frameworks for their companies,

like local law firms and banks that

specialize in addressing the unique

challenges of startups.

2. Workspace: Co-working and flexible

workspaces can provide a good breeding

ground for new companies. As we are still

in the "Launch-Stage", permanent office

space is not included at this juncture.

Launch-Stage: Start

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1. Formalize: As a company and team begin

to grow, they often need resources to help

them more formally set up their infrastructure

(accounting, HR, recruitment, product, etc).

This section can include accountants,

headhunters, software development houses,

and more.

2. Prepare for Seed: Seed funding is a big

milestone for most startup teams, and many

ecosystems have advanced events and

mentorship programs to help teams prepare

for seed. This includes Startup Weekend Next

and other pre-accelerator events and

workshops.

Launch-Stage: Develop

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1. Seed Accelerators: The next step in the

equation for most ecosystems is a local seed

accelerator, like TechStars, Seedcamp, or any

accelerator built upon the Y Combinator model.

2. Pitch & Demo: Whether a company goes

through an accelerator or not, they often need a

way to present their company to a large number

of angel investors in order to garner a large

seed investment. Pitch events and demo days

can provide this opportunity.

Launch-Stage: Launch

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Here, a startup proves their utility,

receives recognition, and scales up. This

usually requires funding and other

resources to drive growth.

STAGE 3: The Growth Stage

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1. Investor Networking: Many ecosystems

have ways to connect professional investors

with founders, like events, groups, and

associations. Examples could include things

like Keiretsu Forum, or local venture capital

associations.

2. Major Media: The major media can play a

role in the startup ecosystem as well, by

providing exposure for companies to

mainstream audiences. In this section, you

should list any major local media channel that

champions local companies.

Growth-Stage: Recognition

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1. Angels / Micro-VCs: These

investors focus on the seed-stage,

and can include "Micro-VCs" (AKA

"Super Angels"), Angel Syndicates,

and individual angel investors.

2. Venture Capitalists: These

investors typically participate in the

Series A stage and beyond, such as

institutional venture funds.

Growth-Stage: Funding

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1. Infrastructure: With capital in hand

(whether via funding or revenue), a company

will often need to invest in infrastructure to

grow. This includes expenditures like office

space, HR, business insurance, and more.

2. Expansion: In many cases, capital-rich

companies will also look for new areas of

growth, such as new product lines or

international markets. Consultants, corporate

accelerators, and growth accelerators/

consultants typically can help provide

assistance in local markets.

Growth-Stage: Growth

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To facilitate the startup stages, every

ecosystem needs strong supporters like (1)

Evangelists, (2) Government, and (3)

Talent.

The Supporters

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Evangelists are people that have taken a

leadership position in a community by

frequently speaking at startup events,

leading or mentoring various startup

programs, and generally "paying-it-

forward".

In Startup Communities, Feld says “the

startup community must be led by

entrepreneurs”. We could not agree more,

so the more evangelists you have that are

successful entrepreneurs, the better.

The Supporters: Evangelists

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Public organizations that facilitate local

economic development should not drive a

startup community, but they can play an

important support role via policy, funding,

events, and more. This can include Chambers

of Commerce, Economic Ministries, Public

Innovation and Economic Development

organizations, etc.

In Startup Communities, Feld classifies

supporting organizations like these as the

"feeders" to a startup ecosystem - but not the

"leaders".

The Supporters: Government

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Local universities and employers can have a

large impact on a local startup ecosystem by

attracting, developing, and retaining a high

quality pool of local talent.

1. Local Universities include any colleges or

universities with prominent technical or

business programs.

2. Local Employers include any major

companies that employ a large local

workforce.

The Supporters: Talent

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When you add up all the Startup Stages

and the Supporters, hopefully the output is

successful homegrown companies.

"Successful" is obviously a relative term, so

depending on the maturity of a given

ecosystem this could include homegrown

companies that have achieved significant

milestones like raising institutional funding,

generating significant revenue, employing a

large workforce, or achieving liquidity.

The Output: Success Stories

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Tips to Use the Startup Ecosystem

Canvas

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Want an Infographic like this for your city?

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In order to promote transparency in startup

ecosystems across the globe, the Founder Institute will

create these local infographics for you, for free.

If you would like a Startup Ecosystem Infographic created

for your community, simply follow the guidelines and send

us your completed canvas, and then we will devote the

design resources to create the infographic for you ASAP.

Contact us here or learn more about the Startup

Ecosystem Canvas at http://fi.co/canvas.

Our Offer