We are absolutely delighted to announce that in partnership with The Town of Sackville, CBDC Westmorland-Albert, Ron Joyce Centre for Business, Futurpreneur Atlantic, and Renaissance Sackville — Sackville is one of Canada’s Start Up Communities!
What is a Startup Community, you ask? Why did we think it was incredibly important?
"Sackville is a great place to do business." Says Sackville Commons co-founder, Julia Feltham. " We actually have a really amazing number of supports for entrepreneurs. The trouble is that rarely do those amazing supporters get together to collaborate or strategize how to help business in our region. Startup Canada has developed a fantastic framework for creating a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem, processes & strategies to make sure entrepreneurs & new businesses are supported in our community. We’re thrilled to be one of Canada’s 40 Startup Communities and work closer with our amazing partners!"
Startup Communities have been helping build entrepreneurial ecosystems across Canada and the world for over a decade. They are based on the work of Brad Felds’ work. To understand more, check out this video.
According to Feld, Startup Communities need these qualities to succeed:
LONG-TERM VIEW: A successful startup community must be filled with people who are making a long-term commitment (20+ years, which resets every day!) and who are able to weather the successes and failures of entrepreneurs in the community.
ENTREPRENEURS MUST LEAD: Feld divides a startup community into leaders (entrepreneurs) and feeders(universities, development agencies, government, etc… in other words, everyone else). “The feeders have very important roles,” he says. “They become part of the fabric of the startup community. But the feeders can’t be leaders. The leaders have to be entrepreneurs.”
PHILOSOPHY OF INCLUSIVENESS: It takes all kinds of people to make a startup community. “If everybody contributes energy into the startup community,” Feld says, “it will get bigger and grow faster and be more successful and be more fun.”EVENTS THAT
ENGAGE THE ENTIRE ENTREPRENEURIAL STACK: Feld cites things like TechStars and Startup Weekend, which he notes are more substantive than awards dinners or cocktail parties, as vital to allowing the entire community to help startups.
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" Not only will we be building the momentum of entrepreneurship & normalizing entrepreneurship as a career choice– we will have regular collaborations & ‘check ups’ making sure we’re taking care of business." Says Feltham. " Being powered by Startup Canada means access to such important tools, and an amazing network of people, organizations, resources, supports and opportunities. "
Here’s some empirical support for Feld’s thesis: http://bit.ly/1P7WSL9
Here’s a crash course on the topic: http://bit.ly/1QceEOI
And here’s the book: http://amzn.to/1zErj2o
