Table of Contents

Foreword by Brad Feld

Introduction

Part 1: Understanding the Problem

Chapter 1: What Are Innovation Economy Jobs and Why Do We Want More of Them?

  • What Is a Good Job?
  • Why Are Innovation Economy Companies Creating the Most Good Jobs?
  • Historical Forces That Have Shaped Job Creation
  • Manufacturing Is No Longer the Best Job Creator
  • Research Behind More Good Jobs

Chapter 2: If Your City Isn’t Growing, It’s Dying

  • Warning: Not All Industries Feed a Virtuous Cycle
  • The Agglomeration Effect
  • What Makes a Successful Magnet City?

Chapter 3: Magnet Cities Breed Successful Entrepreneurs. Talent-Exporting Communities Impede Them.

  • How Government Impedes Growth of Innovation Economy Entrepreneurs
  • Public Money Going into Private Companies
  • A Docile Populace Waits for Government to Lead
  • Entrepreneurship Is Harder in Talent Exporting Cities
  • How Visible Are the Entrepreneurs?
  • Minority Entrepreneurs Are Especially Disadvantaged in Talent Exporting Cities
  • It’s Time to Break the Cycle

Part 2: Creating a Magnet City Culture

Chapter 4: Creating a Community That Fosters Relationships

  • Creative Collisions
  • Referral by Trusted Source
  • The Spark That Lit TriNet
  • How Can We Increase Creative Collisions?
  • How Can We Increase Referrals from Trusted Sources?
  • Fostering the Right Culture Is Accomplished One Relationship at a Time
  • Supporting Diversity Requires Proactive Effort and Applying a Different Lens
  • Dealing with Skeptics

Chapter 5: The Magnet City Ethos

  • Walking the Talk of Startup Communities
  • How to Create a Culture
  • The Road Ahead

Part 3: Key Partners

Chapter 6: Engaging Highly Influential People: How to Get VIPs to Help Jumpstart Your Community

  • Why Get Highly Influential People on Board?
  • Where Do I Find Highly Influential People?
  • Expanding the Search for Highly Influential People
  • Engaging HIPs from a Distance
  • How to Get Highly Influential People Involved
  • Highly Influential People Are Passionate about Helping

Chapter 7: Engaging Early-Stage Private Capital: How to Start Growing Pools of Private Capital for Startups

  • Why Does Private Capital Matter?
  • Why Do Innovation Companies Consume so Much Startup Capital?
  • The Shortage of Seed Capital Investors in Talent-Exporting Cities
  • Abundance of Seed Capital in Magnet Cities
  • Getting Investors off the Sidelines and into the Game
  • Setting Up a Seed Capital Fund
  • Launching a Seed Fund Requires Committed Leadership
  • Accelerator Programs
  • Leveraging Accelerator Program Best Practices
  • Can Virtual Accelerators Work?
  • Gnarly Problems in Selecting Companies
  • Professional Venture Capital Firms

Chapter 8: Engaging Higher Ed: How to Unlock Human Capital Siloed inside Universities

  • The Absence of Experiential Learning in Higher Education
  • Barriers to Connecting Students to Local Resources
  • How to Work with Higher Ed in Your Community
  • Helping Students Get More Creative Collisions
  • Loosening the Tech Transfer Process
  • Cornell eShip Best Practice Example of Engaging Entrepreneurial Alumni
  • Right People Find Ways to Overcome Stifling University Bureaucracy
  • Finding Doers with Passion for Innovation Economy

Chapter 9: Engaging Nonprofits and Social Enterprises: How to Find and Collaborate with Supportive Nonprofits

  • Economic Development Organizations
  • Philanthropic Support for Job Creation
  • Social Enterprises Supporting Ecosystem Growth
  • Developing Productive Nonprofit Relationships
  • Which Organizations Should You Partner With?
  • How to Interact with Nonprofits

Chapter 10: Engaging Government: How to Advocate for Job-Creating Policies and Resource Allocation

  • Can Government Create Jobs?
  • What Should Politicians and Government Agencies Do Instead?
  • Public Policies That Would Help Startups
  • Allocating Tax Dollars to Support Early-Stage Innovation Economy Companies
  • Using the Power to Convene
  • Applying More Good Jobs Principles in Advocating Policy and Government Action
  • Voices from a Collective Have More Influence

Chapter 11: Are We Ready to Lead Change?

Is Helping to Create More Good Jobs Right for Me?

  • Gathering Intel on the Local Startup Scene
  • Intention Becomes Clear with Action
  • Change Happens When Leaders Emerge
  • What Are the Traits of a Great Leader?
  • Playing the Long Game

Conclusion: The Reward Is the Journey

Acknowledgements