Five things we learned about entrepreneurship (and Fort Wayne)
On Friday, our 2020-2021 MDLF Fellows event focused on entrepreneurship and its role in driving Indiana’s economy.
Our spotlight was also on Fort Wayne. We met with Mayor Tom Henry, NIIC CEO Karl LaPan, Domo Ventures Founder Eric Doden, and Fort Wayne Ink Spot President and CEO John Dorcht. After the presentations, we summarized what we learned. Here are our key takeaways:
Relationships are key to entrepreneurial success. Strong family relationships are hugely important, as well as the way you treat your customers and employees.
Fail faster to succeed sooner. If people fail in a controlled way, they can get to success more quickly through iteration.
Entrepreneurs tend to be older than we might think. We were surprised at there are more entrepreneurs in their 40s and 50s than 20s and 30s.
A small number of visionary leaders can transform a community. Research has shown that 5-10 civic leaders can transform a city over the course of 10-15 years if they work on it constantly.
We could grow the entrepreneurship environment by growing businesses from our own cities rather than just importing them. This is a form of economic development that doesn’t make the headlines as much as relocations.
Indiana’s small business formation rate is one of the worst in the country (47/50). But once businesses get off the ground they are more likely to succeed here than in other states. We are not sure why this is!
Our next meeting will be in February, on the topic of public-private partnerships.