Catalyzing Connections: The State of Miami's Startup Ecosystem

Few U.S. cities have transformed the way that Miami has in recent years. In addition to its evolution as a year-round arts and culture location, there has been an increased focus on entrepreneurship as essential to the city's future growth. But what does entrepreneurship in Miami look like? And what are the gaps that need to be filled? This report provides an overview of the current state of Miami's startup ecosystem examining key drivers of success: availability of talent, funding access, and support systems that connect people and fuel startup growth. While the analysis shows that gaps persist in education, access to capital and opportunities to scale, there are positive signs pointing to an emerging and robust ecosystem

Ventured: The Burton D. Morgan Foundation 2012 Annual Report

This annual report gives examples of entrepreneurial activities the foundation has funded, as well as a list of grants and financial statements for the year 2012. It also includes a letter from the president and lists of the board and staff members. Ventured captures a year of experimentation in support of the Northeast Ohio entrepreneurial ecosystem. Throughout, we focus directly on the perspectives of entrepreneurs as they navigate startup hurles and utilize the resources of the region to network, pitch, pivot, and grow. In addition to the lively observations shared in the body of this report, you will find QR codes that lead you to videos of the entrepreneurs providing first-hand insights into their entrepreneurial journeys

The impact of Digital Platforms on Business Models: an empirical investigation on innovative start-ups

Digital platforms have the ability to connect people, organizations and resources with the aim of facilitating the core interactions between businesses and consumers as well as assuring a greater efficiency for the business management. New business concepts, such as innovative start-ups, are therefore created based on innovation, scalability and the relationships within the community around them. The purpose of this work is to deeply understand the evolution of business models brought by innovative and dynamic companies operating through online platforms. In order to achieve the objectives set, an exploratory multiple-case study was designed based on in-depth structured interviews. The aim was to conduct a mixed analysis, in order to rely both on qualitative and quantitative data. The structured interview protocol was therefore designed to collect and then analyse data concerning the company profile and managers’ perspectives on the phenomenon of interest. The interview protocol was submitted in advance and then face-to-face interviews were carried out with the following professional figures: Chief Executive Officer (CEO), General Manager, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Marketing Manager and Developers. Collected data were analysed and processed through the Canvas Business Model in order to clearly outline similarities and differences among the sample. Results can be considered under two viewpoints. On the one hand, this work provides a detailed overview of the companies interviewed, according to the dimensions of: reference market dynamics, type and number of customers, scalability. On the other one, they allow to identify some success patterns regarding key activities, key resources, channel mix strategy, costs management, value proposition, customer segmentation, key partners and the way to obtain revenues. Results from the multiple-case study with 15 Italian start-ups provide interesting insights by comparing the innovative business models developed and highlighting key differences and similarities. verall, the start-ups analyzed, operating in several sectors, showed great growth prospects and the possibility to create value for their customers through innovative products and services offered through digital platforms

Female-owned innovative startups in Italy: status quo and implications

The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of the current literature of this business phenomenon with regard to gender studies and to point out what is substantially happening and what has happened in the Italian economic context. The main research questions were RQ1: How is the phenomenon of female Startups treated from a scientific point of view? RQ2: Which is the Italian situation of this phenomenon? The methodology used is both qualitative and explorative. A bidirectional analysis has been carried out for this purpose. In order to expand the first research question (RQ1), an analysis was carried out of the articles in the EBSCO database on the topic of female startups. In order to expand the second question (RQ2), an analysis was carried out on the data concerning the phenomenon of female startups, using the register of companies held at the Chambers of Commerce which were territorially competent. Our research, carried out within the Italian economic context, demonstrates how the phenomenon of Woman Startups (WSU), even if it is widely expanding, is inherent in all the typical elements of female entrepreneurship, as reported in the literature by gender scholars. The main factors that emerge for the WSU are the small size and the undercapitalization in the startup phase. This work contributes to the expansion of studies on the topic of startups in the context of gender and can be useful to the social context, new entrepreneurs, and practitioners of the sector

Examining the Connections within the Startup Ecosystem: A Case Study of St. Louis

This paper documents the resurgence of entrepreneurial activity in St. Louis by reporting on the collaboration and local learning within the startup community. This activity is happening both between entrepreneurs and between organizations that provide support, such as mentoring and funding, to entrepreneurs. As these connections deepen, the strength of the entrepreneurial ecosystem grows. Another finding from the research is that activity-based events, where entrepreneurs have the chance to use and practice the skills needed to grow their businesses, are most useful. St. Louis provides a multitude of these activities, such as Startup Weekend, 1 Million Cups, Code Until Dawn, StartLouis, and GlobalHack. Some of these are St. Louis specific, but others have nationwide or global operations, providing important implications for other cities

The Kauffman Index: Startup Activity National Trends - 2016

This report provides a broad index measure of business startup activity in the United States. It is an equally weighted index of three normalized measures of startup activity:The Rate of New Entrepreneurs in the economy, calculated as the percentage of adults becoming entrepreneurs in a given month.The Opportunity Share of New Entrepreneurs, calculated as the percentage of new entrepreneurs driven primarily by "opportunity" vs. "necessity."The Startup Density of a region, measured as the number of new employer businesses normalized by total business population

New quality of financial institutions and business management

Economic processes in the world are characterized by a high level of dynamism, change and innovative approaches to addressing key issues in nowadays. In a context of globalization and European integration of Ukraine into a high-tech competitive environment in order to financing innovative projects, it is necessary to use Blockchain technology as an effective tool for digital economy. Purpose of scientific research is to find out key priorities and functionalities of Blockchain’s application for solving business and government tasks. The object of scientific research is the latest financial technology Blockchain and a system of cult-technologies: crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, crowdinvesting. Methodology. In the process of re-search, the following methods are used: generalization – in studying the nature, pre-conditions and principles of Blockchain technologies; formalization – when compar-ing characteristics of the latest forms of financing, such as crowdsourcing, crowd-funding, crowdinvesting. In the course of scientific research, key qualitative charac-teristics of digital economy are described and the dominant components of its devel-opment are investigated. The result of the article. The priorities, new principles of business management and possibilities of Blockchain technology as an effective digi-tal economy tool for solving business and government tasks are revealed. Future pro-spects from the implementation of crowd-technologies as an effective management tool in progress for solving the problems of innovative business are substantiated. Interconnection in the latest financial institution of creative initiatives realization is presented. The comparative analysis of management of new institutes of innovative development for Ukrainian economy in the course of doing business is carried out. The result of the research is presentation of the relationship in the latest financial in-stitution implementing creative initiatives and a comparative analysis of new insti-tutes of innovative development in the sphere of finance for the Ukrainian economy. Practical implications. The components of digital economy identified by the authors in the article are accelerators of the socio-economic life of Ukrainian society in the modern world and are capable of rapidly increasing Ukraine’s GDP. The described new forms of financing of Ukrainian start-ups (crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, crowdsourcing) are today quite interesting and effective tool for solving business problems in the financial, economic, innovative, marketing and marketing spheres. Value/originality. Blockchain technology, as an effective tool for Ukraine’s digital economy, is able to address the challenges of business and government, uncover the relationship between crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, and explain the content of innovative financial institutions for Ukraine’s economy

Introduction to Special Issue on the Rhetoric of Entrepreneurship

Introduction to a special issue of the Journal of Business and Technical Communication on the rhetoric of entrepreneurship. The author introduces basic definitions and concepts from the field of entrepreneurship, then identifies three issues linking rhetoric to entrepreneurship: rhetoric and identity; rhetoric, culture, and community; and rhetoric and persuasion.IC2 Institut