YCombinator: The Keys to a world leader in Enterprise Acceleration

As suggested in some research and as proposed by authors such as Victor Hwang in "The Rainforest", it is relevant that in Latin America these processes are led by entrepreneurs who have lived the experience of being part of an accelerator and who know the culture from the inside .Many of the rules and codes governing the activities, attitudes and behaviors of its participants, are tacit in nature, belong to the context of obviousness of a highly entrepreneurial. In Silicon Valley there is a cultural climate of openness to diversity, tolerance and open collaborative judgment that is lacking in most of the world. One of the biggest challenges faced is to achieve replicate this type of small-scale communities, creating success stories that are an incentive that gatille new experiences and predisposing to various stakeholders (investors, entrepreneurs, government) to cooperate and overcome the barrier of distrust and fatalistic attitudes. http://www.p3-ventures.biz/archives/423

Entrepreneur Ecosystems, the secret of the new "Silicon Valleys"

The investor in Silicon Valley, Victor Hwang, co-author of the book " The Rainforest: the secret to building the new Silicon Valley "compares the ecosystem of startups to a rainforest - although exotic and endemic flora produces wealth not seen in any other place in the world, such plants never flourish without the entire forest, its ecosystem and climatic conditions.

http://www.blogizazilli.com/index.php/educacao-sociedade/ecossistemas-empreendedores-o-segredo-dos-novos-vales-do-silicio

President Frank’s Weekly Perspective

Rain­for­est in the Desert.  Our keynote speaker for our eco­nomic devel­op­ment sum­mit in Sep­tem­ber was Vic­tor Hwang, author of The Rain­for­est: The Secret to Build­ing the Next Sil­i­con Val­ley. His premise is that inno­va­tion flour­ishes if you can cre­ate the right kind of eco-system that fos­ters cre­ativ­ity and entre­pre­neur­ship, and nour­ishes col­lab­o­ra­tion. We have been con­tin­u­ing to engage with Mr. Hwang to learn from his work around the world in pro­mot­ing eco­nomic devel­op­ment though the rain­for­est model. As part of our on-going efforts to nur­ture a rain­for­est approach to eco­nomic devel­op­ment in our com­mu­nity, we are part­ner­ing with the Down­town Action Team and the City of Albu­querque to bring him back for a longer com­mu­nity dia­logue. On Tues­day morn­ing, Feb. 5, Mr. Hwang will be speak­ing at the Kimo The­atre about the impor­tance of com­mu­nity sup­port and the com­mit­ment to col­lab­o­ra­tion for the evo­lu­tion of an eco­nomic devel­op­ment eco-system. 

http://news.unm.edu/2013/01/president-franks-weekly-perspective-1-14-2013/

How to Build a Silicon Valley or 'Rainforest'

In their book, “The Rainforest,” venture capitalists Victor Hwang and Greg Horowitt address the perennial question:  “How do you build a Silicon Valley?”  Despite enormous public investments globally, only a few select regions of the world have evolved into sustainable, thriving, entrepreneurial ecosystems.  Why are the practical tools of governments and corporations so limited and ineffective when it comes to driving innovation? http://www.builtinchicago.org/blog/how-build-silicon-valley-or-rainforest

All You Need is Love, Love...

Victor Hwang, co owner of T2VC and author of a book about building innovative ecosystems called The Rainforest, deconstructs that yes, the solid foundation for an innovative business begins with LOVE.  Here's his article that gives evidence-supported logic:Innovative Ecosystems need LOVE

http://bekindsolutions.blogspot.com/2013/01/all-you-need-is-love-love.html

Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?

The common misconception is that entrepreneurship can’t be taught, because it requires too much real-world experience to master. Victor Hwang is the managing director of T2 Venture Capital and he has seen many qualified M.B.A-educated professionals try and fail as an entrepreneur. http://digitalmediazone.ryerson.ca/blog/can-entrepreneurship-be-taught/  

Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?

The common misconception is that entrepreneurship can’t be taught, because it requires too much real-world experience to master. Victor Hwang is the managing director of T2 Venture Capital and he has seen many qualified M.B.A-educated professionals try and fail as an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur’s High, Taste for the Sea

For the last three days I have had the profound privilege of teaching IAE students how to dig deep and awaken their sleeping giant. It was like a religious experience watching everyone’s real gifts show up and introduce themselves to everyone in the room. Who needs church.

And it was here we opened the first page of The Rainforest to: "And on the other hand, if I convey to my men my love for sailing on the sea- and each of them is so inclined because of an urge in his heart- then you will soon see them diversify according to their many particular abilities. This one will weave sails. This other will fell a tree with a flash of his axe. The other, still, will forge nails. And there will be someone somewhere who will observe the stars so as to learn how to helm. However, in the end, all will be one. Creating the ship isn’t about weaving the sails, forging the nails, reading the stars, but rather imparting a taste for the sea, which is unifying. And in this light, there is no longer conflict, but in community there is love.”  Antoine de Saint- Exupery, Citadelle (1948).  As quoted from The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley, Victor W. Hwang & Greg Horowitt

http://blog.entrepreneurthearts.com/2013/01/07/entrepreneurs-high-taste-for-the-sea/

Steve Frazee and Bill Holsinger-Robinson: Your guides to tending the local economic rainforest.

Frazee and Holsinger-Robinson were inspired to press forward with plans for HUB Grand Rapids after listening to author Greg Horowitt, whose book “The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley” during a speaking appearance in Grand Rapids in October. They share Horowitt’s outlook that social networks in places like HUB will spur innovation that changes how business is done in the future.

http://www.stellaflysocialmedia.com/18808/

Television Ads for Math and Science

In their book The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley, Victor W. Hwang and Greg Horowitt write of the biology of innovation. "How we interact with each other is like a recipe that takes a bunch of independent atoms -- human beings -- and combines them into something greater than the mere sum of these atoms. Most of the time, that recipe looks quite familiar. It consists of the day-to-day interactions that make up everyday life: buying vegetables at the supermarket, making a phone call to your mother, sharing a coffee with your friend. Every once in a while, however, the recipe has an explosive effect, like an ember that bursts into a blazing fire. This is the spark of systemic innovation. Systemic innovation happens when the value we get out of a continuing series of human interactions is disproportionate to the original value of the ingredients we put into the system, not unlike a bag of fresh produce transformed into a gourmet meal. One plus one can indeed be greater than two."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-m-gentile/television-ads-for-math-and-science_b_2403487.html 

Global innovation agenda will grow stronger in 2013

The Global Innovation Summit, drew around 400 delegates and participants from 49 countries to Silicon Valley, not to gawk at reality TV crews or to rub elbows with the next Mark Zuckerberg, but in search of answers to what has become one of the world’s – if not the Valley’s – most urgent questions: “How do other countries, regions and cities cultivate ‘innovation ecosystems’ and what is the secret to building the next Silicon Valley?” The summit made serious work out of decoding the Silicon Valley genome for attendees and delegates, while probing timely topics in distant places where entrepreneurship is a budding phenomenon and the prospect of home-grown technology-driven economic development represents perhaps the best and brightest hope for nations, places and people nearly left behind in past decades by the economic and technological advances of the major industrialized nations of the world.

http://thenextsiliconvalley.com/7640/global-innovation-agenda-will-grow-stronger-2013?page=show#.UOystuQ3v3U 

What is a Mentor?

A return on involvement, the new ROI, is another way of saying that you're willing to "give before you get." Both Startup Communites by Brad Feld and The Rainforest by Hwang and Horowitt address the same cultural norm about entrepreneurs using different verbage. This norm, which extends to entrepreneurial mentors, is the willingness to give some of your time, energy, or wisdom to a startup or the community without having a clear return on your investment.

http://www.benfarahmand.com/2012/12/what-is-mentor.html 

The Key to Growing Innovation Ecosystems Is… Love?

Love is what drives innovation, because it is what brings people together, makes them stretch beyond their usual comfort zones, and allows them to trust each other enough to take a chance and build something novel together.  Love is particularly important when trust is low, when people are different, when barriers are high.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorhwang/2012/12/28/the-key-to-growing-innovation-ecosystems-is-the-most-abundant-resource-in-the-world-love/

‘Rules of the Rainforest’ explained

During his Dec. 10 presentation at the Hyatt Chesapeake Resort, Hwang explained that the economic success seen in California’s Silicon Valley came about not by careful planning, such as occurs in planting trees for a coffee plantation. Instead, it came about as a rain forest grows, because, “innovation is uncontrolled,” he said.

 

http://www.stardem.com/business/article_43f6df36-492d-11e2-9032-0019bb2963f4.html

Rethinking Innovation and Entrepreneurship

In this GMF podcast, Guillaume Xavier-Bender, GMF program officer, talks to Victor Hwang, managing director of T2 Venture Capital and MMF 2008 alumni about innovation, entrepreneurship, the challenges governments face when fostering innovation, and the cultural differences in business he observed during his MMF tour to Europe.

Click here for Victor Hwang’s presentation on innovation ecosystems.

http://www.gmfus.org/archives/rethinking-innovation-and-entrepreneurship/

Can Venture Capital Spark Discontinuous Innovation?

VC and author Victor Hwang writes in his seminal book, “The Rainforest“, that “forces that pull people apart are always stronger compared to those that bring people together”. And if such forces can be overcome, entrepreneurial ecosystems can thrive. 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mahendraramsinghani/2012/12/13/can-venture-capital-spark-discontinuos-innovation/

The Best Ways to Encourage Young Entrepreneurs

...author Victor W. Hwang noted that entrepreneurs should learn their trade in the real world, not in a classroom. While academic business management effectively teaches students about quantifiable subjects like risk calculation and financial analysis, college-level programs are unable to show them how to experiment, collaborate, and lead a company.

http://www.khaama.com/the-best-ways-to-encourage-young-entrepreneurs-154

Cambridge International Sponsors Economic Development Technology Summit

Cambridge International is proud to be a sponsor of the 2012 Economic Development Technology Summit Linking Economic Development and Technology in Rural America. Hosted by the Dorchester County Economic Development Department, the Summit takes place on December 9th and 10th at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay in Cambridge, MD. The Summit focuses on building partnerships between business, educational institutions, and economic development organizations to assess ways rural America can be an effective component of the growing technological sector of the economy. Keynote speakers include Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski III, President, University of Maryland Baltimore Co.; Christian S. Johansson, Secretary, Department of Business & Economic Development (DBED); and Victor W. Hwang, Cofounder and Director, T2 Venture Capital.

http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2012/12/07/cambridge-international-sponsors-economic-development-technology-summit

Interview with Victor Hwang on WCTR Radio's Workforce Show

* Why investors find Silicon Valley a more attractive destination place than the East Coast.  Yes, investors like technology, but it's not always what you think. 
*  What can larger companies do to create an environment of innovation and venture attractiveness. 
*  Applying principles of systems thinking to helping move an idea to a business.

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs167/1109991760705/archive/1111627359149.html

Challenges for Building Entrepreneurial Communities in the Region

As suggested by Victor Hwang... there needs to be an "explicit social contract", explaining the rules that allow the community to thrive and reproduce. These standards are not evident in cultures of distrust, where industry zero-sum transactions and where trust is limited to the inner circle of family and close friends.

http://www.p3-ventures.biz/archives/401