Unlike many cities, Cleveland is uniquely positioned to promote a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem. This is why I wholeheartedly agree with the majority of Ray Leach's Nov. 14 opinion article in Crain's on what it will take to make these entrepreneurial aspirations into a reality.From first-hand experience, I can attest not only to the creative approach Leach has to the problem, but also the invaluable partnerships he has introduced to Cleveland. His recent piece features the importance of commitment, collaboration and capital. These "3 C's" are critical components of the formula to build a booming entrepreneurial economy.
However, I would like to comment on two additional components that are absolutely vital to include. The two additional components are merely expanding on the formula Leach has outlined. Without factoring these components into the formula, the highest level of innovation will never be achieved.
What enables an ecosystem to reach success? Talent.
Talent enhances the formula for success because it acts as a stable pipeline of new innovators into the community. Without talent, neither commitment, collaboration, nor capital would be efficient. A concrete pipeline of talent, however, ensures that this efficiency is possible. This is because talent introduces novelty and increases the process of innovation in an ecosystem.
Where does this pipeline start? Higher education.
The Boler College of Business at John Carroll University intersects with the foundation of Cleveland's talent base because it embraces the responsibility of being a citizen in Cleveland's innovative community. Therefore, the college, like others, has a prevalent role to educate and prepare people for careers and to produce talent for Cleveland's entrepreneurial network.
As part of the pipeline, the Boler College of Business can be a source for startups to launch a new idea in Northeast Ohio. One idea can revolutionize and transform the Cleveland area. To successfully catalyze an innovative idea, one last component needs to be included in our formula.
Two ecosystems may have all four components to the equation on paper, yet sometimes one is evidently doing better. For some unknown reason, one community's levels of innovation and success are thriving, while the other community's is not. Why might this optimism be present in one and not the other? Passion is properly leveraged.
Call me a romantic, but I think excluding passion in the formula for success would result in a doomed potential for Cleveland.
The most successful entrepreneurial hubs in the world accommodate passion into their formula. This is due to passion being a multiplier.
In our formula, if one of the components is at zero, then the entire configuration ultimately fails. This is why one ecosystem advances compared to another. The ecosystem that does not advance tries to innovate with zero passion, but with commitment, collaboration, capital and talent still in the formula.
Ultimately, properly leveraging passion enhances the overall success of a region engaged in entrepreneurship.
Passion cannot be artificially manufactured.
One unique thing about Cleveland, however, is that passion is already ingrained into the region's network of collaborators. In the past 10 to 15 years alone, the landscape of passion has only been increasing. Transitions into positions of new leadership in Cleveland are an exemplifier of this. Just to name a few, there is the election of Mayor Justin Bibb, the appointment of Baiju Shah as CEO of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, and even new leadership in multiple nonprofits and the Cleveland Clinic.
When attempting to create a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem, there is a danger and risk of staying static. Rather than staying complacent, passion builds in a drive to constantly be innovative and regularly oppose regression. This drive is embodied in the talent that is pipelined into an entrepreneurial network.
The Final Formula for Success: Commitment x Collaboration x Capital x Talent x Passion = Thriving Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
Granot is dean of the Boler College of Business at John Carroll University.
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