Mature Entrepreneurs Conference

4 October 2019

What was the challenge?• ‘Innovation’ was the only indicator we were

underperforming on in Ballarat

• Our Economic Program acknowledged theopportunities for Council to support thedevelopment of entrepreneurship

• When asked at a Launch Vic workshop in2017 to name Ballarat’s start up services, Icouldn’t name one!

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What was the solution?• The Launch Vic Start Up Guide and funding

round for local governments presented anopportunity for Eco Dev teams to take a lead

• We applied for funding for services tosupport stages 1 and 2 in the Guide:☑ Meet-ups☑ Hackathons☑ Masterclasses☑ Workshops☑ Coworking spaces

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The four phases of a Startup Ecosystem

Phase 1 – Awakening and Manifesto

▪ Starting to embrace the startup culture,development and understanding.

▪ Early awareness of startup ecosystemmindset.

▪ Want to fully understand about globalmegatrends and changes taking place ininnovation, entrepreneurship andstartup ecosystem developments

▪ Comparing own position, activities andfocus areas to others – both locally andglobally

The four phases of a Startup Ecosystem (con’t)

Phase 2 – Mapped and Vision

▪ Seeking strategies, policies, new supportfunctions and services to grow businesscreation

▪ Developing and embracingentrepreneurial culture

▪ Startup development and ecosystemknowledge is being built among localstakeholders for common alignment

▪ Building a shared vision and roadmap forlocal ecosystems

The four phases of a Startup Ecosystem (con’t)

Phase 3 – Aligned and Measured

▪ Actively making connections betweenstartups, activities, services,applications, advisory networks, talentpools and funding instruments

▪ Accessible and transparent▪ Actively working on reducing overlaps▪ Increased focus on measuring and

benchmarking ecosystem performance

The four phases of a Startup Ecosystem (con’t)

Phase 4 – Orchestration and Iteration

▪ Entrepreneurial culture is fullyembraced

▪ Following annually sustainable roadmap▪ Digitally connected both locally and

globally▪ Improving in volume, quality, velocity

and ROI

Runway’s ecosystem experience

Ecosystem Involvement Phase Est

Geelong Builder 3 - Entering Aligned and Measured Aug 16

Ballarat Builder

Builder

Support

Support

2 - Entering Mapped and Vision

1 - Awakening and Manifesto

1 - Awakening and Manifesto

1 - Awakening and Manifesto

Aug 18

Nov 18

Nov 18

Nov 18

Warrnambool

Dandenong

Startup Shakeup in North East Victoria

INNCrowd (Casey)

Startup Gippsland

Support

Support

1 - Awakening and Manifesto

1 - Awakening and Manifesto

Feb 18

Apr 18

What worked well?• We were incredibly fortunate that a whole lot

of services supporting start up,entrepreneurship and skills developmentlanded in Ballarat at the same time (2018)

• Development of An engagement strategy forStart Up Ballarat enabled these newproviders to come together and discuss theirrole in our new “Ballarat’s Innovation andEntrepreneurship Ecosystem”

= COLLABORATION!

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Lessons Learnt• The strict definition of a ‘start up’ (as per the

Launch Vic guidelines) can be limiting

• In a regional city, we do not currently have acritical mass of true ‘start ups’

• By changing our mindset to welcome ‘smallbusiness’ to our events, we will gain greaterbenefits for the city overall

• Many of our attendees at meetups are fromsmall business

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Lessons Learnt (con’t)

• Every region is different – needto allow for its own character totake shape

• We are about embeddingentrepreneurial thinking in anecosystem rather than buildingan ecosystem for Startups

• “ ”The gold happens when wemake the connections betweentraditional businesses andStartups – both can benefit

Where to from here?Questions to ask our ecosystem:

• How do all the players in Ballarat focus on greater collaboration?

• What desired outcomes can we all work towards to support a trulyentrepreneurial culture in Ballarat?

• What benefits should we all be trying to realise for our existing citizensand businesses?

• What messages do we want to give those outside of Ballarat about thetype of place Ballarat is?

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