The Startup Community Way

CHAPTER FOURTHE FACTORS

Startup Community Way Principle

Startup communities are organized through networks of trust, not hierarchies. Startup communities function through relationships where mutual trust and norms allow the exchange of ideas, talent, capital, and know-how to occur seamlessly. Hierarchies and top-down approaches destroy these dynamics and sap the energy that startup communities need to thrive.

Having discussed the types of people and organizations involved in a startup community, we now turn to the resources and conditions in a city that accelerate or constrain the ability of entrepreneurs to succeed. We call these factors and organize them using a framework we call the Seven Capitals.

While collectively, along with the actors, these parts of a startup community are of course important, it's critical to understand that the interaction between them is what matters most. Still, an understanding of the factors is valuable when engaging with a startup community.

THE SEVEN CAPITALS

Now that we've identified the who in startup communities let's shift gears and discuss the what, the critical resources and location-specific conditions that impact entrepreneurship in a place.

Let's start with a framework called the Seven Capitals. These are the core assets of a startup community that produce economic value. Like the traditional meaning of capital, they can be depleted and subsequently require replenishment through the investment of time, effort, or money. They ...