Beyond Silicon ValleyDeveloping communities of innovationColin Graham, Causeway Innovation23 June 2016

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Innovation: lots of talk …

Silicon Valley, Bay Area London

New York Tel Aviv

Source: PwC, Expanding Australia’s economy through digital innovation, April 2014

Note: Currency USD, calculations reflect currency fluctuations

Australia vs. USA VC Spend: 2001 - 13

$4.5b

$18b

$285b

Actual AUS

spend

US VC spend

Equivalent US per capita spend

Australians bet more on Melbourne Cup in a day than entire VC investment in a year Startupsmart, 8 May 2015

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‘Hundreds of regions all over the world collectively spent tens of billions of dollars trying to build their versions of Silicon Valley. I don’t know of a single success.’

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Vivek WadhwaUS Tech Entrepreneur, Adjunct Professor, Duke University and Fellow at Stanford University

Context for Innovation

Density

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Thin economic base: low business &

population density

Difficult to attract talent: smaller

labour pool

Limited availability of finance

Distance to markets, professional service

firms, unis etc. Isolated from peers

ICT issues – mobile & broadband

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Example: Wide Bay Burnett ROC

Example business

Growing businesses & jobs

GrowStartups

Established businesses with

potential

Attract businesses

All three are important

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Startups

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Example: Startup support, create your own density Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast

• CREATE DENSITY• Flexible office space & fast fibre• 143 startups• 91% remain in business today• 720 FTE jobs• $103m annual output• $32m seed investment • 350+ student work places / projects• 6,000+ people attend events

Source: AEC Group 2016

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A quick reality checkIt’s all about twentysomethingsNO: Average age of successful founder is 40; Kauffman Foundation, 2014

All start ups think bigNO: Most are not innovative, create few jobs, necessity rather than opportunity; Scott Shane, Illusions of Entrepreneurship, 2008

It’s all about coding and technologyNO: High growth firms equally represented in high tech’ and ‘low tech’; NESTA, The Vital 6%, Oct 2009

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Scaleups

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The Vital

6%• Just 6% of high growth cos

generated half of the UK's employment growth between 2002 and 2008

• These businesses can be found across all sectors, and they span established firms and start-ups, small businesses and large organisations.

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Example region business base (S. Burnett)

1% Large

, over 2002%

Medium, 20 to 199 staff

10%Small, 5 -19 staff

27%Micro, 1 to 4 staff

61%Non employing

Estimate based on 3,207 businesses and national

patterns (ABS, 2014)

1,956

866

64

32

321

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The Vital 6%

= 200 businesses

Innovation ecosystem

Startups

ScaleupsLarge

established cos

Places & Spaces

Events

Education & Research

Funding

Service Providers

Mentors

Govern-ment

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Example: Savannah’s Startup Ecosystem, www.hiimcaleb.me/savannahs-startup-ecosystem

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Conclusions1. There’s only one Silicon Valley, what are you

going to be?2. Beyond simple ‘startups’ - question assumptions:

young, tech, types of innovation, VC backed?3. Scaleups and the Vital 6%4. Your region – identifying and supporting5. Help owner managers with growth ambitions,

education opportunities7. Build the ecosystem: link talent, mentors,

professional service firms, capital 8. Create your own density

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THANKSColin Grahamcausewayinnovation.com @CausewayInno