Those of us who live on the coasts can easily regard the space between New York and San Francisco as little more than a six hour plane flight. After all, the brains of American innovation are in Silicon Valley and the pocket book to pay for it is in the Big Apple. At least that’s what we’re led to believe by our own arrogance and the perennial question “How can we become the Silicon Valley of Fill-In-The-Blank?”
On the face of it, it’s a silly question, sort of like me wondering how I can become the Heidi Klum of overweight, middle-age women. You, dear Fill-in-The-Blank, cannot. No more than I can become a supermodel at this or any age. We don’t have the right stuff and trying to fake it just makes us look silly.
That’s not to say that Fill-In-The-Blank doesn’t have the right stuff to be the center of its own business universe or that great companies can’t be fostered in the Fly Over states. In fact, they are.
I had the honor of working with ten such companies earlier this month as part of the PIPELINE program, funded by the State of Kansas and expertly led by CEO Joni Cobb. In each of the last four years, PIPELINE has identified 10 high-potential companies to participate in a year-long immersion program. The companies come from a broadly-defined technology sector, and represent remarkable innovations in bioscience, materials engineering, consumer Internet applications, education, energy efficiency, robotics, pharmaceuticals, and a host of industry-specific enabling applications. Over the course of the year, they receive support for business planning, run market validation studies, learn effective communications skills, and connect into a national network of business mentors.
Then, they grow their businesses in Kansas, hiring local talent, investing in local infrastructure, paying local taxes, building the local economy. Indeed, PIPELINE is driving these entrepreneurs to better outcomes than a typical investment portfolio might experience. These companies are doing astoundingly well – and during an economic downturn, no less. Most have exponentially grown their businesses, and others have retooled and started newer, higher potential companies after realizing they were not on the right track. And in this awful economy, we’ve seen PIPELINE companies with substantial exits completed or in process. Most importantly, the entrepreneurs at the head of these PIPELINE companies are paying it forward by encouraging others to start and grow new businesses. As the program enters its fifth year, it has spawned an active alumni network in which past Innovators, as the program participants are called, become active mentors to current participants and to entrepreneurs at large.
No doubt State and local legislators eager to see big change fast – or at least in time for the next election cycle — wring their hands and wonder why Kansas isn’t the Silicon Valley of the Heartland. They may worry if one little program can do enough to revitalize the economy and stem the brain drain to the vaunted coasts. I don’t have the numbers to make my case, but I have to think the bang for the buck of this little program is remarkable. PIPELINE – a relatively low-cost, high-impact business development program — is a model for economic development throughout a country where once vibrant towns and cities are struggling to remake themselves for the Information Age. And through a network of national mentors, the program is making footprints in the Innovation Ecosystem far beyond the borders of Kansas, becoming an emerging brand for programmed mentorship.
No question, by comparison, Kansas is no Silicon Valley and never will be. And that’s okay. In fact, it’s better than okay; it’s essential. Kansas, and every other Fill-In-The-Blank region, has a fundamental responsibility to foster economic growth, and nothing drives growth more effectively than entrepreneurship. Delivering programs that shift the odds of success in favor of the entrepreneur and driving policy that incites young businesses to invest and grow locally are building blocks of economic growth and sustainability. PIPELINE does both. It is an effective program that other states and regions would do well to model.
