How to Build Entrepreneurship Communities

A session at SXSW Interactive 2012

Why do some tech communities thrive while other fail? What can you do to start, fix or grow your city's startup scene?

This panel will take a grounded look at the key ingredients of successful startup communities in any geography. We'll look the role that events, spaces, accelerators, VC, angels, universities, and government play in the equation, and we'll dissect the intangibles as well - including culture, philosophy, mentorship, education, and more. We'll also have some time at the end for audience questions. Panelists include Brad Feld, Paige Craig, Mark Davis, Nick Seguin, Marc Nager and Andrew Yang.

About the speakers

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Paige Craig

CEO & Cofounder

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Mark Davis

CEO & Co-founder, Kohort

CEO @Kohort
Venture Partner @High Peaks Venture Partners
Founder @ColumbiaVC & NewYorkVC about.mpd.me

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Nick Seguin

Mgr of Entrepreneurship, Kauffman Foundation

Nick has a combination of entrepreneurial experience and wide-angle exposure to founders, funders and startup ecosystems. He is a partner at Dynamit, a Columbus, Ohio-based digital consultancy and agency building strategy, applications and infrastructure, where he focuses on strategy and business development. He is on the Board of Directors at Startup Weekend and has been organizing events since 2008. Nick is also the Manager of Entrepreneurship at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation – the largest foundation committed to entrepreneurship. With an endowment of nearly $2 billion, Kauffman is a global leader in the research and development of entrepreneurial economies. At the Foundation Nick focuses on building, funding and deploying initiatives focused on high-growth startups across many sectors. Nick is a popular speaker on entrepreneurial communities and startup team building. He is a mentor with a number of accelerators, an advisor to startups and an angel investor. Nick studied marketing and international business at Miami University and spent time at the school's Luxembourg campus.