City of Champions 2.0
How a new generation of creative, innovative and social entrepreneurs can build on Edmonton's past, re-invest existing wealth and expertise, and establish a new pipeline where the renewable resource is creativity.
June 2011
It's amazing what happens to this city when it gets fired up about something.
Playoffs, sporting events, cultural festivals, elections - all of these bring out a fierce passion in the community.
But like our short summers, these times come and go, and with them our sense of identity. Like other next gen-ers who have been lucky enough to visit and work in other thriving cities like New York, Vancouver and San Francisco, I struggled with this question: why stay in Edmonton?
We now live in an interconnected knowledge economy shaped by creative industries, information technology and globalization. What I've come to realize is that it's not about the rankings, the civic pride, the quality of life, or the stuff I can do in whatever city I live in - it's about the people. It's about the opportunity to co-exist in a community of smart, creative, entrepreneurial people who also dream big and hustle to make things happen.
That's what fires me up about Edmonton right now.
A solid grassroots community of next generation entrepreneurs is forming and mobilizing from the bottom up. We're expressing what's important to us, how we want to live our lives, how we want to engage with each other and the world. It's amazing what happens when you put a little vision out there, mixed with some hustle and a whole lot of commitment. People come out of the woodwork wanting to get involved.
Since starting artsScene Edmonton and Startup Edmonton a few years ago, I've had the opportunity to meet amazing local engineers, designers, scientists, artists, creators and entrepreneurs, and I am often surprised at the work that's happening right here in our city and beyond. There's someone and something new to discover every day.
I call it a revolution. It's being led by smart entrepreneurs who are building on our past, re-investing existing wealth, harnessing the experience of the city's business leaders, and establishing a new pipeline where the renewable resource is creativity. This is how we diversify. This is how we create new wealth to invest back into the community. This is how Edmonton wins in the new economy.
But the stakes are high. We don't have decades to put together roadmaps and strategies. Cities around the world are already investing millions of dollars and resources to attract and retain a new generation of connected young people who are building their futures.
A vision of a transformed Edmonton (Foster + Partners, London UK)
To compete, we need to mobilize people now who will connect the dots, and who will create a new generation of startups based on the following ten principles:
1. Invent new jobs. Smart, connected people are the key. Without them, new ideas and approaches can't be formed. We have top post-secondary educational institutions and talented engineers, designers, programmers, scientists and creators. The key is forming new startups from teams of smart people who want to invent new jobs instead of finding jobs.
2. Don't wait, start now. Recession or not, there's never been a better time to start something new. Time and resources will always be limited. It's about maximizing what you have so you can act. If you want to make a difference, you need to think big and dream big from day one. Leadership is needed to transform ideas into products, and take companies from startup to scale.
3. Create, build and share. There's a time for strategizing, and then there's a time for doing. Build startups and products you're passionate about, and solve real customer problems. Share your experience with other creative entrepreneurs. Share networks, technologies, resources, space. Give back as much feedback as you get to invest into the community.
4. Dominate niche markets. Unless you have a stockpile of cash, mass market wins are tough to come by. But in the new economy, small is the new big. You can directly connect with customers and markets anywhere in the world online and through app stores. Dominate niche markets by creating products that customers will buy and use.
5. Proof goes a long way. Get your products in front of customers and users early and often. Are you actually solving problems? Is what you're creating worth paying for? Find ways to get small wins along the way as you go from idea to startup to scale. Proven traction (small and large) goes a long way with customers and investors.
6. Money isn't the main problem. It doesn't take millions in government spending and venture capital to create a thriving industry cluster. Top-down money isn't the solution. A lack of good investable products and deals is our problem. It just takes a little luck, hard work and hustle to tackle the problem from the bottom up.
7. Fail fast, fail hard, start again. Entrepreneurs are comfortable with failing. Everyone fails. As Steve Blank, one of Silicon Valley's leading minds on entrepreneurship, puts it: "Startups are about the search for a repeatable and scalable business model." You don't know the answer, and sometimes it just doesn't work out, and that's okay. The key is being able to fail fast, learn from it, and move on. The worst thing is taking years to figure out that maybe your product just isn't that good and that's why no one's buying it.
8. Success breeds success. Edmonton has been quietly outputting some of the most successful companies in technology, engineering, arts, and design - all key areas in the new economy. It's about inspiring and mentoring future generations of creative entrepreneurs to follow in their footsteps.
9. Startups can come from anywhere. Startups come from creative entrepreneurs who aren't defined by social status, ethnicity, or education. Instead, creative entrepreneurs and their startups are defined by hustle, passion and an unrelenting ability to find solutions to problems.
10. Let's be a great city, not a big city. It's easy to get caught up in the rankings game, constantly comparing ourselves to other thriving cities. We can't pretend to be something we're not. It's easy to think that if we only attracted more head offices, more big brands, more venture capital, we'd stake our claim on the world stage. But that's just not the case. Because, in the new economy it's not about being big - it's about being great.
Through the years, one brand has stuck with Edmonton - the "City of Champions." Outside of sports, I think it provides a worthy summary of a new vision of Edmonton as a city of creative entrepreneurs. In the quest to be a champion, one hustles, fails, tries again, overcomes adversity, and drives forward with a will to win and succeed. Sounds like an entrepreneur to me.
Welcome to the new City of Champions.
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