CRAWL, WALK,

RUN, AND ONLY

THEN COMPETE
A Framework for Manufacturing Innovative
Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Emerging
Economies

MARWAN SOUDI & KATHERINE NAZEMI

"If emerging markets want to see any sort of impactful technology hub sprout, they need
to start focusing on seeding the ecosystem around startups and not the other way around.
The byproduct then would be great startups." - Marwan Soudi
Acknowledgments
This report has been in the making for some time and an uphill journey that could have never been
completed without many thanks to Firas Al Kafri, Katherine Nazemi, Zaid Al Masri, Adam Smith, Safaa El
Ouafi, Natalie Stewart, Steven Koltai (Koltai & Company LLC), Melanie Watchler (Integration Consultants),
Declan Gordon Carroll (EIB Support for Seed Accelerators FEMIP), Willie Elamien (Flat6Labs Cairo), and
Halah Hajahjeh for being a supporting pillar to the UpSpark project and helping me push my own
limits and boundaries, thank you.

Authors
Marwan Soudi: UpSpark – An Ecosystem Builder
Firas Al Kafri: UpSpark, Salalem Learning

Contributing Authors & Researchers

Katherine Nazemi: MIT UA Innovation Committee
Adam Smith: Migrate, UpSpark

A special thank you to the EIB for making this research possible by giving us the opportunity to learn and
connect us to many great organizations globally, from government to private institutions and individuals.
Their contribution to the UpSpark project was invaluable to our research.

UpSpark
UpSpark is an organization dedicated to supporting technology and entrepreneurial ecosystems in
emerging economies by focusing on an ecosystem first and entrepreneurs second approach.
We believe that the ubiquity of high caliber talent and impact driven startups stem from healthy, open
and collaborative ecosystem that are driven towards the interest of building progressive open support
organizations.

2
Foreword
For over a decade, I have been part of a growing entrepreneurial tech wave in Jordan. From a young age,
I’ve been interested in questions of how innovative technology can be deployed to help people and
businesses, and in 2012, I began to think seriously about launching my own startup.

I quickly ran into obstacles. My concept was resource-intensive and technically sophisticated, so I got in
touch with accelerators to understand how they could support me. I searched for mentors, tried to work
closely with tech associations, and investigated existing government programs.

Yet as I tried to chart my own path, I discovered numerous flaws in the ecosystem for entrepreneurs. I
found a culture that was risk-averse and hostile to startups; I found tech associations that were
superficially active but had little interest in engaging with entrepreneurs. The few programs that did exist
were extremely outdated, and working with the government required more time and resources than a
small-team startup could realistically dedicate.

As I struggled to navigate the financial, regulatory, and cultural environment for startups, I began to
discover that many other people were facing similar challenges – both locally and globally. I realized that
whatever knowledge I gained, whatever path I managed to carve out for myself, could also be shared to
help others succeed.

My interests shifted from trying to build a single startup to trying to build an environment that encourages
and supports startups and entrepreneurship more broadly – from "how can I create something innovative
myself?" to "how can I create a whole ecosystem of successful, innovative startups?"

In my early research, I had discovered a handful of progressive entrepreneurs and tech communities who
had managed to build successful careers in tech against all odds, while being completely detached from
the ecosystems around them. What were they doing right?

I started working with these successful independent founders, and started a number of initiatives to pull
more founders like that into Jordan's tech scene for people to learn from. I formed a team to lead a wide
array of events aimed at community and capacity building for entrepreneurs and tech geeks of all types
including Startup Grind, Founder Institute, and Google Developer Groups. I was also directly involved in
building JO Angels, Jordan’s first angel network, and JoGeeks, a community of techies, to bolster the
overall ecosystem.

I expanded my search for answers beyond the tech world – exploring government partnerships, NGOs,
policy work, theories of economic development and emerging economies – and I realized I was stumbling
upon a question that most countries are trying to answer: How can we create the next Silicon Valley? Yet
it didn't take long for me to realize that this is a misleading question. Rather than applying cookie-cutter
programs and policies, we must identify the country's comparative advantage and leverage that to
generate economic advances.

My research led me to visit emerging and developed tech sectors in seven different countries across three
continents. I visited workspaces in Dublin specifically designed to create corporate-startup partnerships,
science parks in Sweden where I saw firsthand how an open-source culture can lead to collective growth,
and think tanks in the UK where I saw the value of studying the process of innovation itself.

3
Through my work, I have had the privilege of collaborating with individuals around the globe, who study
and have insights into the roles that government support programs, private sector initiatives, donors,
accelerators and venture capital can play in seeding and supporting an entrepreneurial environment. I’ve
worked closely with individuals in government, with the private sector, with VCs, and with tech evangelists
to try and better understand the problem and potential solutions.

This report collects lessons from around the world, combines them with a deep firsthand knowledge of
Jordan’s entrepreneurial environment, and underpins them with new research into what works and
doesn’t work for innovation-led growth. It is my hope that this report will chart a path forward for
transforming Jordan’s entrepreneurial scene, laying the foundations for a globally competitive ICT hub

If implemented successfully, the recommendations in this report can be selectively applied to emerging
economies worldwide and contribute to the development of progressive civil communities and higher
standards of living – a goal to which we all aspire.

Marwan Soudi
UpSpark Founder & Director

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Contents
Foreword....................................................................................................................................................... 2
Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................... 7
Developing human capital ........................................................................................................................ 7
Developing startup support structures ..................................................................................................... 7
Defining your impact................................................................................................................................. 7
How this report is intended to be read and applied................................................................................. 8
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 9
Chapter 1: Building knowledge capital by building talent, ethos, and know-how ..................................... 12
1.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 12
1.2 Talent ................................................................................................................................................ 12
1.2.1 Regional talent is underdeveloped ............................................................................................ 12
1.2.2 Jordan lacks highly-skilled tech talent ....................................................................................... 13
1.2.3 Coding bootcamps: a proven model for bootstrapping talent growth...................................... 14
1.3 Culture............................................................................................................................................... 18
1.3.1 Fostering collaboration through clustering, events and workshops ......................................... 18
1.3.2 Accepting failure is critical for innovation ................................................................................. 20
1.3.3 Celebrating success can encourage entrepreneurship as a way of life ..................................... 21
1.4 Know-how: soft skills and practical knowledge for success in any career ....................................... 22
1.5 Talent takeaways .............................................................................................................................. 22
Chapter 2: Accelerating talent to impact .................................................................................................... 23
2.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 23
2.2 Existing resources for nascent startups are lacking .......................................................................... 25
2.3 Selection Process .............................................................................................................................. 26
2.3.1 Phase 1: De-Risking Potential Teams ......................................................................................... 27
2.3.2 Phase 2: Re-evaluating and assessing growth ........................................................................... 28
2.3.3 The Program: Taking an Open-Source Approach for Rapid Innovation..................................... 29
2.3.4 Continual self-assessment leads to improved long-term performance .................................... 32
2.4 Contributing to the greater ecosystem directly and indirectly......................................................... 32
2.4.1 Developing smart capital ........................................................................................................... 33
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 34
References .................................................................................................................................................. 35
Appendix I: Israel Case in Point ................................................................................................................... 37

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Appendix II: Innovation, impact, and accelerators ..................................................................................... 39
Appendix III: Interrogating the role of government ................................................................................... 40
Appendix IV: Accelerator overview............................................................................................................. 41

6
Executive Summary
A healthy government, society, business, or entrepreneurial ecosystem all have what we see as related
foundations at their core. In this report, we address the foundational pillars that are needed to build
healthy, vibrant, progressive, globally competitive and most importantly, economically productive
entrepreneurial ecosystems.

This guide takes lessons from around the world, but is intended specifically for emerging economies and
addresses their unique challenges, including:

1) Emerging economies do not have the resources to accept a high failure rate. The availability of
venture capital is limited, and government will to invest seriously is weak to non-existent.
2) Primitive competition results in primitive success that is only relevant in its own environment. The
fledgling startup communities in emerging economies cannot survive aggressive competition. And
if it does, it will not produce companies that are relevant on a regional scale.

While there is much to learn from best practices around the world, in order to be successful, we must
take what applies, discard what doesn’t, and build a framework that is uniquely our own. We identify
several pillars, the development of which is a prerequisite for a productive entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Developing human capital

▪ Talent: manufacturing high quality tech talent to give people the hard skills to develop new tech.
▪ Ethos: cultivating a culture of collaboration, acceptance of failure, and celebration of
entrepreneurship to make innovation possible.
▪ Entrepreneurial human capital: training people in the skills they need to turn their ideas into
productive businesses.

Developing startup support structures

▪ De-risked: subverting high failure rates by ensuring that accepted teams have a high potential to
succeed.
▪ Open source: accelerating innovation by taking an open-source approach and ensuring that all
knowledge and resources are shared collectively.
▪ Measurement: continuously collecting metrics about the structures and programs in place in
order to analyze the track record and implement improvements.

Defining your impact

▪ What: Thinking carefully about what impact you seek to create. “Innovation” by definition is an
evolving concept that should not be static, and can take many forms. Broadly, it should aim
improve and progress things towards the better, either by its concept of use, business goals,
efficiency, and/or impact.

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 ▪ Why: Interrogating “why do you want to do what you want to do?” This process of questioning
leads you to discover root causes and motivations, and derive a clearer answer to “what,” which
eventually leads to “how.”
▪ How: Developing a framework of innovation is just like any business discipline — a set of tools
that are designed to accomplish specific objectives. Just as we wouldn’t rely on a single marketing
tactic or a single source of financing for the entire life of an organization, we need to build up a
portfolio of innovation strategies designed for specific tasks.

How this report is intended to be read and applied

This report should not be read as a step-by-step guide to executing an agenda or business plan, but as a
framework for thinking about and solving problems using unconventional and multi-disciplinary
approaches. We present the examples and solutions that we believe would be best executed in emerging
economies, but it is important to understand the research that led to this approach, in order to apply a
similar flow of thinking tailored to individual contexts.

Essentially, we encourage you to:

▪ Take and apply best that are relevant to you.
▪ Access and discard what is useless and does not apply.
▪ Create novel solutions that are uniquely tailored to your own ecosystem.

And most importantly,

▪ Don’t underestimate the power of the wisdom of crowds, and share!

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Introduction
Economic growth depends on innovation –
our ability to generate and adopt new
knowledge and ideas. Decades of research has WHAT IS INNOVATION?
shown that innovation is the most important
driver of long-term productivity and Innovation is a very widely used, and overused,
prosperity, and that innovative businesses word. Many definitions have been provided over
create more jobs and tend to scale faster. the years by the OECD and other organizations.
But it is worth setting out a few reminders of
But what creates the ideal conditions for what innovation is, and what it is not. Broadly
innovation? speaking, innovation is the process by which new
ideas turn into practical value in the world: new
Many reports and research papers argue that products, services, or ways of doing things. It is
government plays a critical role in creating the not just about new technologies or about
regulatory environment for innovation and scientific R&D. Innovation happens in civil society
entrepreneurship to flourish. Yet making such and government as well as in businesses; in
policy decisions requires governments to think humanities as well as in tech.
long-term, and make investments today for
uncertain rewards in the future. While the The benefits of innovation are widespread, and
primary function of a government should be only a small proportion of them accrue to the
to leverage today’s collective resources for a innovator. Economists refer to the ‘spillovers’
better tomorrow, what happens when from innovation, a recognition of the fact that
governments are unwilling to do so, and many innovators reap no returns at all from the
instead make decisions that are short-sighted time and money they invest in innovation, and
and risk-averse? As is the case in Jordan, even successful ones often create much more
progress can be slowed dramatically, and a value for their competitors, customers and
country’s economy can stagnate while the rest unrelated businesses than for themselves.
of the world’s economies move forward. Innovation is essentially disruptive, but
disruption doesn't rest exclusively in novelty, in
We argue that in these cases, it is not what nobody thought of before, but it also
necessary to wait for government embodies thinking about traditional problems
engagement or reform to start building from a new perspective.
productive, sustainable entrepreneurial tech
ecosystems. Avoiding government entirely, Providing a complete and rigorous definition of
we can “hack” our way to manufacturing an ‘innovation’ could itself be the subject of a dozen
innovation driven ethos by studying and reports, but it is not necessary to pin down a
selectively adopting best practices from specific definition before beginning to explore
successful ICT hubs around the world, and what steps can be taken to improve Jordan’s
creating what it essentially ours – our own entrepreneurial environment. Rather, we can
best practices.1 start with an initial framework and refine the
definition along the way. For a deeper
UpSpark does exactly that. exploration of ‘innovation,’ see Appendix II.

1
The evolution of Israel’s economy provides an insightful example of what we mean by this. For more, see Appendix I.

9
 UpSpark aims to seed a healthy, sustainable, progressive and
effective entrepreneurial ecosystem by applying a hybrid
model of validated and successful accelerator models from all
WHY ICT? over the world and customized specifically to fit our current
state. Recognizing that no single factor alone can spur and
sustain entrepreneurship, we propose a practical road map to
Innovation can, and does, happen jump-start the growth of a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem
in every industry. So why does in Jordan that will be improved upon with constant iteration.
UpSpark focus on the ICT sector in
particular? In doing so, we tackle the two biggest challenges facing the
development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Jordan:
First, Jordan estimates that over
50% of its startups are now in the ▪ Talent and knowledge capital: Lack of high-quality
ICT field, including telecom, IT, Entrepreneurial and tech talent;
mobile online businesses, and
game development. The industry ▪ Smart capital: Lack of smart capital to help potential
has also attracted substantial
entrepreneurs transform their ideas into successful
foreign direct investment. This
businesses.
makes it an active, and potentially
lucrative starting point. To address the first problem, we propose a multi-part program
that upends traditional tech education and fosters a risk-
Second, our personal experience tolerant and collaborative entrepreneurial culture. This
and expertise is in the ICT sector. program is run independently of the government; in fact,
We are familiar with the main many of the components already exist in the form of NGOs,
players, with the challenges faced hobby groups, and professional associations – they just need
and the resources available both to be coordinated and scaled up. Chapter 1 of this report lays
locally, and globally for us to learn out this program in greater detail.
from.
To address the second challenge, we introduce a framework
Finally, a vast array of knowledge for a new model for startup support. This model is an open
about how to launch innovative accelerator bootcamp that combines education, incubation,
tech ecosystems. This allows us to and acceleration and employs a radically open-source
learn from other countries’ philosophy to de-risk startups, facilitate community and
successes, and quickly get beyond collaboration, and turn early-stage ideas into profitable
initial challenges. businesses. Chapter 2 of this report is dedicated to describing
the underlying philosophy and ideal operational model of this
type of accelerator. Why is a new model necessary? As the
pace of economic development increases, emerging economies are essentially playing catch-up.
Replicating the models used in developed economies will not enable them to be competitive at a global
level. Rather, in order to catch up and move ahead, emerging economies need to innovate on the business
models of accelerators themselves.2

2
Accelerating Startups: The Seed Accelerator Phenomenon by Susan G. Cohen University of Richmond and Yael V. Hochberg Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and NBER - March 2014

10
Ultimately, UpSpark investigates the roots of innovation to design programs that create sustainable
innovation – and its contingent economic gains – in Jordan and in emerging economies worldwide. It starts
with training a new crop of talent using the most up-to-date pedagogies for technical skills and business
know-how, with building a culture that embraces failure and celebrates success, and with relying on open-
source collaboration and open-source metrics for self-improvement. In this way, UpSpark aims to serve
as a catalyst not only for other startups, but for entire entrepreneurial ecosystems.

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Chapter 1: Building knowledge capital by building talent, ethos, and know-
how

“Many countries in the region are supported by Jordanian human talent. That’s the
capital that we have. And I think that’s what sets us apart from other countries.”

– King Abdallah II3

1.1 Overview

A thriving innovation ecosystem is built on human capital. It’s a place where talent, teamwork, and risk-
taking come together to produce new ideas; where side-projects scale to the next big thing; where teams
have the hard skills to take their ideas and bring them into reality in a culture that supports exploration,
demands collaboration, and recognizes failure as a necessary part of the invention process.

Yet today, strong talent in the region is lacking. In Jordan, studies have concluded that university graduates
lack necessary skills in technical fields, and that local companies have difficulty accessing high-quality local
talent. A cultural fear of failure stifles growth and innovation, and lack of business knowledge limits the
incidence of startups.

Creating an environment that supports innovation and entrepreneurship in the ICT sector will rest on the
development of three key pillars:

▪ Talent: providing individuals with intensive technical knowledge.

▪ Ethos: creating a culture of self-learning, creativity, collaboration, and judicious risk-taking.
▪ Know-how: developing the practical skills and soft skills necessary to succeed in traditional or
entrepreneurial careers.

This chapter provides an overview of the current state of talent, ethos, and know-how in Jordan, and
charts a path forward for developing the next generation of regional talent.

1.2 Talent

Developing talent is a necessary precondition to developing entrepreneurship. Jordan and neighboring

countries in the region must invest in the education of human capital not only to produce a workforce
with the necessary skills to support a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem, but also to contribute to
technological innovation and entrepreneurship in the future.

1.2.1 Regional talent is underdeveloped

3
CNBC Interview: His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan

12
In a 2015 interview with CNBC, Zain Group CEO Scott Gegenheimer
asserted that the Middle East must tackle its skill shortage ‘urgently.’
He argues that the region has substantial untapped human capital,
and that young people, specifically, do not have sufficient access to TALENT QUICK STATS
the necessary education, training and development for them to
contribute productively to the regional and global economy.4
The top challenges to hiring
This perspective is shared by many organizations, including the are related to skills and
International Labor Organization,5 INSEAD, PwC,6 CEG, EY,7 Wamda,8 commitment.
and the European Investment Bank,9 all of which have published
thorough research that attests to a regional talent shortage. 44% of entrepreneurs say
A 2016 Wamda research report highlighted that the MENA regional that identifying the right
unemployment rate, at 12% and increasing, is the highest in the skills or expertise is the top
world, and that the region would need to create about 85 million jobs challenge they face in the
(and the talent to support them) by 2023 to be on par with the global hiring process
average unemployment rate. The same report found that while 90%
of entrepreneurs planned to hire in the next year, over 60% of those 35% expressed difficulties
entrepreneurs cited finding talent as a barrier to building their team. finding committed
As long as talent remains underdeveloped, job growth will remain employees.
stagnant.

The problem of unemployment and talent shortage is particularly acute when it comes to youth
populations in the region. MENA is currently experiencing a record youth population explosion, with more
than 30% of the population under the age of 30. Yet youth unemployment in the region is the highest in
the world. Access to highly qualified talent is the crucial missing link that could bridge entrepreneurial
potential with sustained economic development and job growth.

1.2.2 Jordan lacks highly-skilled tech talent

There are currently 27,000 unemployed ICT graduates in the country. Of the 5,000 ICT graduates produced
annually by Jordanian universities, fewer than 10% find jobs in the ICT industry.10 Despite high demand
for computer engineers in the region, graduates are unprepared.11 A report conducted in 2013 by the ICT

4
Middle East must tackle skills shortage ‘urgently’
5
MENA Employment Trends for Youth 2015
6
PWC Education Consulting Services
7
EY Report 2015 - How will the GCC close the skills gap?
8
WAMDA and IFC Report - Access to Talent for MENA's Entrepreneurs
9
EIB & World Bank Group Report 2016 - What’s Holding Back the Private Sector in MENA? Lessons from The Enterprise Survey
10
AlZubi, B. (2015, November 10) Personal Interview with Hugh Bosely
11
AlZubi, B. (Re: ReBootKAMP Jordan) Message to Hugh Bosely. December 18, 2015. E-mail

13
Association of Jordan (int@j)12 found that 75% of employers in the
ICT sector have difficulties finding well-educated employees, and
74% of companies think fresh graduates who apply to their SEARCHING FOR
organizations are deficient in many skills. The report also found that LOCAL SOLUTIONS
Jordanian universities face challenges in keeping abreast of the latest
developments in the global ICT sector due to the rapid advances in
A number of initiatives have
technology. This lag means that university students may be studying
grown up organically to
outdated or irrelevant material, which reduces the value of these
address the difficulties of
graduates in the private sector over time. It was notable that int@j
finding tech talent.
found the majority of ICT operators sent their staff to post-graduate
external courses to reinforce their skills, indicating that this is a
Salalem is an online
growing pain in the industry.13 The report ultimately recommends
platform that creates
that universities re-examine ICT education with the aim of better
specialized training e-
matching training with the requirements of the workplace.
courses that target the skills
gaps of fresh graduates in
In addition to traditional companies, entrepreneurship in Jordan is
the private sector.
limited by the talent pool as well. One of the main problems
encountered by entrepreneurs in the region when assembling their
Hello World Kids was
teams is the lack of specialized talent. This includes mainly new
launched by an engineer
talent, not only in programming, but also in general soft skills that
who wanted to supplement
companies rely on for harboring and cultivating smart talent.
her children’s educations
Specialized design, data visualization and analysis, growth hacking,
with basic coding and tech
and best practices of global digital marketing, among others, are
skills. The organization
lacking.
teaches computer and
mobile programming to kids
The gap between the educational system and the needs of the
from 8 to 12 years old.
private sector and entrepreneurial ecosystem can be drastically
narrowed by incorporating specific subjects in the curricula from an
ReBootKamp is a program
early age, fostering interest in technology and technical careers, such
that trains Jordanians and
as engineering and computer science. However, tackling the problem
refugees to become full-
from an academic perspective is no short-term solution: it can take
stack software developers in
up to five to ten years to increase the knowledge capital in the space
18 weeks, discussed in more
of technology and entrepreneurship. If the ICT sector is to continue
detail below.
on its path towards becoming a potential innovation hub for
technology companies in the short-term, accelerators must play a
vital role in the education process by creating their own programs as
well as forming strategic partnerships with external training and educational initiatives. So how do we
achieve this?

1.2.3 Coding bootcamps: a proven model for bootstrapping talent growth

A coding bootcamp is a technical training program that teaches the parts of programming with the biggest
impact and relevance to current market needs. It enables students with very little coding proficiency to

12
The ICT Sector Competencies, Skills and Needs Assessment Report 2013
13
Jordan: ICT jobs and training mismatch - Oxford Business GROUP

14
focus on the most important aspects of coding and immediately apply their new coding skills to solve real-
world problems. Coding bootcamps teach people with little or no technical coding background how to
write code and build applications on a professional level. They last anywhere from 6 to 28 weeks and are
designed for speed and high-impact learning.14

Most traditional engineering-based programs take four to five years. Coding bootcamps isolate the most
relevant skills from a four-year degree and infuse it with relevant industry skills to bridge the gap between
the theoretical world of academia and the real world of startups.

Besides speed and high-impact learning, coding bootcamps teach the latest hard technical skills that
match the technologies that the best startups in the country are using to build and launch products very
closely.

For these reasons, coding bootcamps have proven very popular in the tech industry. As of June 1, 2016,
there are coding bootcamps in 69 US cities and 34 states. Coding bootcamps continue their rise in the
tech industry with an estimated 17,966 bootcamp graduates in 2016, a 1.7x growth rate from 2015. As a
point of comparison, it is estimated that there were 61,408 undergraduate computer science graduates
from accredited US universities in 2015.

In a 2016 job outcomes study conducted by SwitchUp, 63% of bootcamp graduates were found to have
increased their salaries. Further, 80% reported they were ‘satisfied' or 'very satisfied' with their
experience. These programs have become the hiring centers of choice for top Silicon Valley tech
companies.

Programs based on the bootcamp pedagogy are already seeing successes in Jordan. Rapidly scaling up
such programs and opportunities is one way to dramatically increase the talent pool in the short term.

SUPPORTING WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

When developing talent and culture within the entrepreneurial ecosystem, it is particularly important
to support the development of women entrepreneurs, and to encourage the participation of women
in tech. Currently, in events such as Startup Weekend, the number of female participants doesn’t
exceed 24% of the total attendance. This gap is consistent with the entrepreneurial sector as a whole,
where the gap between male and female entrepreneurs in the region is 24%, according to the World
Bank.

Promoting workforce diversity is important, since studies affirm that businesses with a woman founder
perform 63% better than those founded only by men.1 On one hand, it is necessary to begin by
incentivizing technology careers for women from an early age. Initiatives such as RBK, which have
made a concerted effort to reach gender parity, have seen highly talented women succeed in the
program. Identifying and promoting success stories of women entrepreneurs can inspire new
generations of engineers, programmers, and founders of tech companies.

14
https://www.thefirehoseproject.com/definitive-guide/1

15
 ReBootKamp: A Case Study in Talent-Building

In early 2016, the first coding bootcamp was longer projects that develop project
opened in Amman, Jordan in partnership with management, team communication, and
Hack Reactor (a Silicon Valley-based coding code documentation skills, as well as
school) with the dual aims of tackling high incorporating guest speakers, social nights,
unemployment rates in Jordan as well as the networking with hiring partners, and other
ongoing refugee crisis. events. Topics covered are continuously
revised and updated from cohort to cohort.
Premised on the idea that the current
education system produces engineers whose Today some of the RBK curriculum includes
knowledge quickly becomes obsolete given industry-relevant knowledge such as
the rapid progression of the digital economy, JavaScript, Github, SQL, data structures,
ReBootKamp launched a software algorithms, HTML/CSS, and more.
engineering bootcamp that trains individuals
to become full stack engineers in just 18 Through this curriculum, RBK delivers five
weeks. essential qualities demanded by industry:

To accomplish this, the program applies an • Solid English ability developed

immersive, fast-paced pedagogy. Students through a pre-program English class.
spend very little time in a traditional • Strong soft skills: Communication,
classroom setting. Rather, the majority of Collaboration, Ethics.
their time is spent learning practical coding • Deep problem solving ability:
skills through hands-on projects. The practice using deductive and
program employs pair learning, whereby inductive logic.
pairs of students work jointly on projects. This • Autonomous learning ability:
enables students to teach and learn from quickly adapt to new technologies.
each other, encouraging teamwork and • Market ready programming ability:
autonomous learning. advanced Full Stack development.

The program has two major phases: RBK graduates enter the marketplace and
find careers at companies such as Edraak,
• Phase I: 5 weeks. 6 days a week. 8 Souq (Amazon), Altibbi, LIWWA,
hours a day. Total structured hacking ArabiaWeather, and many more. The
time: 240 hours program runs on a success-based tuition
• Assessment: 1 week. Interview, model: graduates only pay RBK after they
review, and selection for Phase II find a job as a software engineer.
• Phase II: 12 weeks + 1 solo week. 6
days a week. 12+ hours a day. Total RBK delivers immediate impact to the
Jordanian ICT ecosystem. Every 21 weeks, a
structured hacking time: 860 hours
new cohort of graduates enters the
The curriculum incorporates code challenges, workforce as well-trained, highly skilled
real-work projects, lectures on new concepts, individuals equipped with problem solving
skills and the ability to self-teach to keep
pace with evolving industry demands.
Furthermore, since half of RBK admittees are
16 refugees, the program contributes to solving
a social challenge as well.
Hackatari: investing in student initiatives Leveraging local talent communities

Hackatari, an initiative of a successful startup Supporting the creation of venues and opportunities for
that sprouted its roots from Amman to San education outside the formal system, complementing
Francisco (Mixed Dimensions), is an traditional education, is another pathway towards more
innovation lab that combines student specialized education. One avenue toward achieving this is
learning with hands on projects and original by leveraging the existing knowledge of local talent
R&D. communities.

Programs at Mixed Dimensions focus on high- The Jordan UX Association, for example, has collaborated
tech innovation, including 3D printing, virtual closely since 2015, and conducts sessions to share
reality, and interactive 3D Tech. Conceived by knowledge from community experts in best practices of
Mixed Dimensions Inc, it has partnered with user interface and user experience design.
universities around Jordan. There are also other instances of continuous education
provided by entrepreneurial communities, like Jordan
Among other initiatives, Hackatari offers an Open Source Association and Google Developers Group
internship program to give students direct Amman that aim to bring advanced software development
work experience in building and managing techniques to Amman, by promoting a "hacker" culture (in
software products, and support original thesis the positive sense) towards programming education.
research with mentorship and financing.
Such organic communities must be supported and
Hackatari aims to foster collaboration and promoted by funding, partnerships, or collaborative
integrations between academia and industry events.
by building a solid case with Mixed
Dimensions in commercializing research and Encouraging self-learning via MOOCs
expanding IP and patents portfolio in the
field. Mixed Dimensions sees this as a Today, it is impossible to overlook the value of Massive
valuable investment in the long run to access Online Open Courses (MOOCs) and other online learning
talent that is not just semi equipped from an tools as a way to rapidly gain and share information
academia standpoint but empowered and about a range of topics from elite educational
supported by its student driven initiatives. institutions. MOOCs have gained popularity to the
These initiatives work on cultivating young extent that institutions such as Harvard and MIT (both
student talent and actively invests in their of which produce MOOCs) offer certifications based on
knowledge capital to breed early innovators their successful completion. In the context of developing
in this emerging industry, something that the the regional talent pool generally, and the Jordanian
local education system lacks. talent pool in particular, MOOCs should be broadly
utilized to achieve the following:
Facilities that support and encourage learning 1. Encourage autonomous learning. MOOCs allow
through experimentation, building, and individuals to pursue curiosity, learn new topics
creating are greatly needed as a way to seed and skills, and further develop existing areas of
talent from early on in the pipeline. Resources expertise.
like Hackatari, which provide students 2. Continue lifelong learning. Offering diverse
enrolled in traditional universities with classes on different topics makes it easy for
valuable hands-on experiences, should be learners to keep up with the latest news and
expanded. More broadly, innovation labs that trends and be on top of their professional field.
give individuals the chance to imagine, build,
3. Strengthen weak areas of knowledge.
and test new ideas should be supported in
Particularly in entrepreneurship, individuals
meaningful, structured and well thought-out,
impact-driven ways in order to grow must possess a wide variety of skills that they
organically, rather than rely on NGO funding, might not have practiced before. MOOCs can fill
17
to become much more widespread. these knowledge gaps.
1.3 Culture

Culture around an entrepreneurial ecosystem must be open, inclusive, and transparent in order to
generate and transform ideas into successful businesses. Aside from specialized talent, it is also necessary
to work on promoting entrepreneurship as a way of life, understanding failure as a stage along the
learning process. The road to a vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystem begins with events in which its actors
meet each other, exchange ideas and experiences, and begin to act as a community. This gives way to
more ambitious initiatives, such as hackathons or co-working spaces, in order to finally reach more
sophisticated scenarios such as venture builders, accelerators and R&D collaborations between tech firms
and local tech communities. Communities provide entrepreneurs with opportunities for growth and
informal learning, often in unplanned and serendipitous ways.

Part of developing the community means instilling a culture in which people feel supported to take risks,
pursue new ideas, and explore new areas of interest. Through side projects with friends and informal
teams, self-learning and experimentation, and exposure to examples of successful entrepreneurs, novel
ideas and new collaborations can emerge. To accomplish this, there must be a purposeful approach to
encouraging collaboration, accepting failure, and celebrating success.

1.3.1 Fostering collaboration through clustering, events and workshops

Big ideas transform into great projects when they're shared. Exchanging experiences, knowledge, and
ideas among entrepreneurs and creators acts as a catalyst for entrepreneurial success and innovation.
The road to a vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystem begins with events in which its actors meet each other,
exchange ideas and experiences, and begin to act as a community. Supporting the formation of venues
and opportunities to reach a certain density of startups is a key factor for the potential of innovative
ventures to emerge.

A great example of such an activity is Mix N’ Mentor Amman – “Marketplace Edition,” a community event
focused on facilitating partnership opportunities between startups and large corporations. Mix N’ Mentor
brings together promising entrepreneurs with industry experts and investors to discuss specific startup
challenges. With its unique format, Mix N’ Mentor forges deep long-lasting connections between
entrepreneurs and mentors.15, 16 Events of this type should be made broadly accessible to promote
collaboration between members of the community.

Clustering can facilitate collaboration

To facilitate collaboration, physical proximity between entrepreneurs can be paramount. Innovation is

born out of the confluence of great minds. The concept of cluster, referring to an ecosystem of alike
businesses supported by the vigor and success of all of its participants in a limited geographical area
enables regular, face-to-face contact that nourishes the dialogue between competition and collaboration,
fundamental for the characteristic dynamism of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Alongside the idea of a cluster, which has a broader geographic horizon, we can highlight that of co-
working spaces: physical spaces where several companies, not necessarily related, share facilities and

15
http://www.wamda.com/2016/04/mixnmentor-amman-2016-marketplace-edition
16
http://www.wamda.com/2016/06/mix-n-mentor-amman-provokes-heated-debates

18
workspaces every day. The fact of sharing physical space not only enables novel approaches for problem
solving, nourished by the different perspectives contributed by every project, but also creating the
necessary conditions to attract investors, as well as new business and financing opportunities. In many
cases, these spaces transform into landmarks of the local entrepreneurial culture, as is the current case
with the Zain Innovation Campus in Jordan.

There is a clear need as well as a business opportunity trend for the creation of properly managed co-
working spaces with a focused purpose for empowering communities. Aside from free space, Co-working
spaces can also serve as self-sustainable and revenue generating businesses, for mid-stage startups. When
clear and appropriate value is made available that can facilitate or serve as a catalyst for legal
establishment, education, and access to value added services, startup businesses and corporate sectors
gladly pay for these goods, as in the case of AstroLabs Dubai.

SUCCESSFUL CO-WORKING SPACES: ASTROLABS DUBAI

AstroLabs Dubai is a coworking space for digital technology companies that aims to help startups set up a
presence in Dubai and provides a platform for them to scale globally. AstroLabs gained popularity among
startups and entrepreneurs through the concrete support they provide. Initially just a co-working space,
it built a community that includes entrepreneurs representing over 80 innovative tech startups.

The organization also launched AstroLabs Academy, which focuses on delivering specialized courses on
topics in digital business including digital marketing, coding, analytics & big data, UX design, and business
development. Many courses are open to the public, but they also develop custom-made curricula for
corporate clients and incubators/accelerators across the region.

The success of AstroLabs gained the attention of Google for Entrepreneurs, which adopted AstroLabs and
brought them to the Google global community. Governments and organizations must follow such
examples if they are to take this sector seriously and aim for tangible and measurable impacts.

Connecting the public and private sector for long-term impact

Community interactions must not be limited to entrepreneurs, but should also aim to create solid
relationships with the private and public spheres. The establishment of a union or body that represents
one common voice for its community is important, as it serves as a source of collective information and
strengthening the dynamism of the sector. From a government standpoint, the establishment of a union
or body to represent the community can be further empowered if the government recognizes and
legitimizes such entities and also works towards shifting the cultural perspective around entrepreneurship
jointly. Governments should also serve as critical partners in defining what impact ecosystems should aim
for. Governments, which often have the most complete information about the real problems and needs
faced by their populations, should approach entrepreneurs with technology competencies and to work in
ways to link entrepreneurs, universities, and other governments to develop disruptive solutions.
Collaborating with governments can be complex and highly context-dependent. One framework for
approaching government collaboration is described in Appendix III.

19
A robust entrepreneurial ecosystem's foundation lies not only in the development of innovation and the
new projects that arise from it but also the relations with which other sectors nourish and propel it, such
as investors, business and industrial sectors, universities, and governments. They create networks that
link those who wield the tools of technology with the traditional business community who understand
better than anyone the problems that plague the various productive sectors in the region, and may serve
as a gateway to dialogue and to new entrepreneurial solutions to old problems.

1.3.2 Accepting failure is critical for innovation

The mantra "fail often, fail fast" is the cornerstone of entrepreneurial culture in Silicon Valley.17 Innovation
is impossible if individuals are afraid to try new things because they might fail. And while glorifying failure
is not a productive goal, failure should not be seen as the end of the world. Further, lessons learned from
failure can propel an individual or organization to successes in the future.

However, this philosophy doesn't necessarily resonate in our region. One way that this fear of failure
manifests itself is in the number of individuals who choose to join traditional businesses rather than
startups. A survey by Wamda Capital found that only 12% of respondents would work for a startup, while
the rest preferred to work for large corporations. While many factors may contribute to this result, fear
of risk and failure may be salient.18

To foster a thriving innovation ecosystem, it will be necessary to work to destigmatize failure. This can be
achieved through specialized events, education, and everyday
interactions.
F.U.N. AMMAN
One great example of positive awareness raising about failure is
FuckUp Nights (Or F.U.N).19 The initiative was born in Mexico,
The introduction of F.U.N. to
created by five friends who sought a space to speak openly about
entrepreneurial failure. Now, it has become a global movement Jordan provides an
and event series that shares stories of professional failure. Each illuminating glimpse into the
month, in events across the globe, three to four people get up in culture around failure in the
front of a room full of strangers to share their own professional country.
failure. It provides a more realistic outlook on the process of failing
as an entrepreneur, and potentially imparts valuable lessons to Corporates & entrepreneurs
the audience. alike both struggled to
discuss failures publicly, yet
Organizations can cultivate a culture of openness around failure a core minority were vocal
supporters.
through their daily interactions. For instance, discussing the
week's errors in a company meeting or sharing experiences of
failure among entrepreneurs helps to turn these events into The region has a long way to
sources of learning. Admitting Failure is an organization that go in developing this culture,
but it is on its way.
works to help businesses – specifically NGOs and civil society –
discuss and learn from failures. According to their website, “The

17
https://www.slideshare.net/Techstars/fostering-the-startup-ecosystem-in-latin-america
18
https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/b8999b4c-bd08-463f-b278-
85d764fd3998/a2t_final_report_july15b.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
19
http://fuckupnights.com/

20
paradox is that we do everything we can to avoid these pains even though we all know failure is the best
teacher and we have to be open and talk about our failures in order to learn. More than that, openly
acknowledging failure is often a catalyst for innovation that takes our work from good to great.”

The de-stigmatization of failure shouldn't be limited to entrepreneur communities, but should be

extended to the rest of society, in particular children and youths who will become future generations of
entrepreneurs.20 This should start early in education, through experiments and unstructured play.

The ultimate objective is to showcase entrepreneurship as a way of life that is possible. Failure is nothing
other than the other side of risk, which is the main engine of innovation and entrepreneurship. Whether
it happens or not, it is always a possibility.21 Only entrepreneurs who can understand the possibility of
failure as a stimulating challenge rather than a hindrance will achieve their goals. After all, if there’s no
risk, there is likely no prize.

1.3.3 Celebrating success can encourage entrepreneurship as a way of life

Yet to strengthen entrepreneurial culture, it is equally vital to adequately disseminate and value successes
that sprout from the community. One of the major reasons that entrepreneurship is stifled in Jordan is
because it is simply not culturally accepted. Many entrepreneurs will fail multiple times before they
succeed, and the idea of failing can lead to shame or disapproval by family members, friends and peers.
Promoting the idea that entrepreneurship is a viable path to success and celebrating one’s own ambitions
and ideas is crucial to ultimately stimulating growth.

Success stories can inspire more people to aspire to become entrepreneurs, and can demonstrate the
tangible benefits of collaboration, teamwork, and learning from failure. Studies, as well as anecdotal
evidence, has shown that entrepreneurship can be a demanding and isolating endeavor that takes its toll
on an individual’s mental health. Gallup Polls have found that entrepreneurs report experiencing worry
and anxiety at a higher rate than employees.22 This is not broadly acknowledged in Jordan, where the
mental toll of entrepreneurship is dismissed or mocked, even by leaders in the sector. Thus, it is also
important to create a community of individuals who share common experiences and who can support
each other.

STARTUP GRIND: CELEBRATING A COMMUNITY

1.2 Know-how
Startup Grind is "a global entrepreneurship community designed to educate, inspire, and connect
entrepreneurs." The program has branches in over 200 cities worldwide, and hosts fireside chats in every
1.4 Know-how:
city soft
every month. skillstalks
These andfeature
business skills help
successful localindividual
founders succeed
or investors, with an audience comprising
dozens or hundreds of entrepreneurs.

These talks provide entrepreneurs with opportunities for mentorship, and chances to connect with
potential co-founders or hires. Interviews with the keynote speaker provide lessons and guidance.

20
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/244307
21
https://www.fastcompany.com/3035310/hit-the-ground-running/what-the-hype-behind-embracing-failure-is-really-all-about
22
https://www.inc.com/magazine/201309/jessica-bruder/psychological-price-of-entrepreneurship.html

21
1.4 Know-how: soft skills and practical knowledge for success in any career

Even in a culture of openness, collaboration, and risk-taking, and equipped with technical skills, many
potential entrepreneurs will not have the skill sets needed to take the next step in turning their novel
ideas into viable businesses. Thus, a third pillar of developing an entrepreneurial ecosystem involves
providing opportunities for individuals interested in starting companies to learn about the business world.
This could include events, speakers, or recommended online courses. These opportunities could take the
form of events featuring talks with successful entrepreneurs, work sessions to develop critical skills, or
informational sessions to cover basic areas of knowledge.

1.5 Talent takeaways

Talent is the most critical precondition for developing a healthy, sustainable, productive innovation
ecosystem. The cumulative effect of these educational outreach efforts will be, over time, to build a
community of individuals who have the skills, mindset, and basic resources to begin seeding and scaling
new ideas. It is important to note that there is no single factor that alone can spur and sustain
entrepreneurship. There is no exact formula for creating an entrepreneurial economy, there are only
practical, if imperfect, road maps to jump-start the growth of a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem. By
taking a people-focused approach, the model outlined above, tailored to emerging economies, lays the
groundwork for a more advanced entrepreneurial economy where individuals have the resources, capital,
and mentorship to take their ideas and apply their technical knowledge to launch viable startups.

22
Chapter 2: Accelerating talent to impact

“The era of closed-source innovation is dead. If Jordan wants to be a leader in regional

innovation rather than forever playing catch-up, we need to quickly implement novel
ways of sharing knowledge so that the benefits of new insights and discoveries can be
rapidly made universal.

Our approach is a new model of startup accelerator built on principles of minimizing risk
and supporting talent, cultivating and evoking a new type of culture within, founded on
radical transparency, resource-sharing, and open-source collaboration – a living, dynamic
organization that’s constantly evaluating itself and taking metrics to self-improve.”

– Marwan Soudi, UpSpark Founder & Director

2.1 Overview

Incubators and accelerators serve an important function in a robust innovation ecosystem, serving as
conduits between ideas and impact. Incubators and accelerators provide support and infrastructure for
the existing skills within a community, and enable individuals to scale their ideas to create value for the
whole ecosystem. Fundamentally, they drive novel ideas and new technologies to economic impact by
creating successful commercial enterprises.

Studies have found that about 60% of venture-backed startups fail.23 In the current environment, Jordan
has neither the time nor the resources to accept that kind of failure rate. And while failure is a necessary
part of the innovation process, there are pragmatic steps an accelerator can take to mitigate risks and
create viable, sustainable, and profitable businesses that generate returns for investors in the long term.

It will not work to import the standard Silicon Valley business model and expect it to work in Jordan.
Because Jordan has specific needs, it requires institutions that are customized to meet those needs. These
include:

▪ Minimizing risk: the current ecosystem does not have the resources to sustain a high failure rate.
Accelerators need to take stringent steps to minimize risk, at least in the short term, if they are to
realistically generate returns for investors or ecosystem impact. Our proposed accelerator de-
risks startups with a highly selective admissions process and extensive education programs.
▪ Open-source collaboration: our guiding principle is that collaboration equals rapid innovation. In
order to hack our way to becoming regionally competitive, gains from new advances in knowledge
or technology should be shared. Our proposed accelerator views the skills, resources, and
technologies of its startups as collective tools that can hasten new breakthroughs.

23
http://fortune.com/2017/06/27/startup-advice-data-failure/

23
 ▪ Continuous iteration: better data leads to better decision-making. Rather than an ad hoc “spray
and pray” approach, we need to collect data about what works and what doesn’t work, measure
our impact, and continuously adjust our programs based on the results.

In this chapter, we propose a new model for startup support24 that is built on these three principles. If
implemented successfully, the organization could serve as a model for accelerators in emerging
economies worldwide.

An accelerator creates globally relevant, disruptive technologies in a sector it has mastered. If it wants to
lead, its primary focus should be on value-driven businesses. A successful accelerator for the Jordanian
context does not have to create disruptions to be extremely profitable. Rather, the goal should be to build
an organization that can eventually afford to take risks without a fatal backlash.

In comparison to traditional accelerators, ours emphasizes openness, collaboration, and building a strong
business model over closed innovation, individualism, and disruption.

Traditional Accelerator Principles Open Accelerator Principles

Not all the smart people work for us, so we must find
Most of the smart people in our field work for us and tap into the knowledge and expertise of bright
individuals outside our company

To profit from R&D, we must discover, develop and External R&D can create significant value; internal
ship ourselves R&D is needed to claim some portion of that value

We don't have to originate the research in order to

If we discover it, we will get it to market first
profit from it

Building a better business model is better than getting

If we are the 1st to commercialize we will win
to market first

If we create the most and the best ideas in the If we make the best use of internal and external ideas,
industry, we will win we will win

We should profit from others' use of our IP, and we

We should control our intellectual property (IP) so
should buy others' IP whenever it advances our own
that our competitors don't profit from our ideas
business model

24
We use the term accelerator because the end goal of this organization is to turn early-stage startups into
investment-ready businesses. However, the program blends aspects of bootcamps, incubators, venture builders,
and accelerators.

24
This chapter lays out existing resources for startups in Jordan, then describes a blueprint for an
organization that combines features of incubators, accelerators, venture builders, and similar
organizations to facilitate the full process of taking nascent teams and ideas, and supporting their growth
and eventual deployment of new products.

2.2 Existing resources for nascent startups are lacking

Whether businesses are just starting or trying to scale, financing is critical for success. Experienced capital
can really make a difference for new companies, and experienced investors can help coach founders along
their journey.

Yet in a recent Wamda survey, the majority of entrepreneurs in Jordan stated that investors are not
offering enough value beyond cash, and most mainstay institutions don’t adequately provide mentorship
or opportunities for collaboration. A rapid influx of investors has left the sector uncoordinated and
disjointed, and according to the UNDP’s SME Development report, “there is no mechanism for
coordinating the range of service providers and programme efforts.” As a result, entrepreneurs stall at
certain phases, and lack the support or expertise to make their next move, even if the opportunity is
theoretically available.

Some investor networks and training programs have already formed regionally, with most headed by
founding angel investors while being funded mostly through membership fees. Yet in the case of Jordan,
some of the recently formed investment networks have at least one of the following shortcomings: they
are poorly publicized to relevant audiences, take a more traditional approach to investments and lack
solid experience in startup and technology investments, or are not as active as they should be. Over time
due to the characteristic flaws of their operations, most of these networks either face fatigue or
demotivation and their initiatives eventually dwindle away with no track of any kind of concrete impact.25

While angel investing has always been active in the region through individual investments, getting
investment groups active in a network structure has been challenging. Donor institutions (such as USAID)
have previously funded the establishment of angel networks such as Bedaya (now no longer active) and
JO Angels (struggling for sustainability) in Jordan. Attempts to get networks to become sustainably active
face several challenges:

▪ Angel investors do not necessarily understand the business models of tech startups, including the
inherent risks and diversification required.
▪ Cultural differences between angel investors who have typically spent their careers in traditional
business settings, and entrepreneurs who are used to operating in a fast-paced startup
environment.
▪ Incubators and angel networks alike have a large number of applications but a small number of
quality startups seeking funding.

With this lack of maturity in the ecosystem, it is crucial that both angel investors and entrepreneurs gain
the necessary cross-industry knowledge to work together productively.

25
Interview with JO Angels founder Zaid Masri

25
Today there are several initiatives to cooperate among angel networks, like MAIN, a cooperation
initiative26 for Cairo Angels (Egypt)27, Womena (Dubai)28, Oqal (Saudi Arabia)29, Tanmu (Bahrain)30 and
many other new members which are starting to join.

On the other side of the world, similar successful examples in Latin America are The Venture Club of
Panamá, or Guadalajara Angel Investors Network (GAIN), local entities that seek to gather angel investors
in both cities. These associations aim to develop an innovative entrepreneurial culture among individuals
who are in condition to invest in startups, but that have historically created wealth through traditional
investment instruments.

In reflection, support and growth of an investor network such as JO Angels is an important component to
the ecosystem. The approach towards angel investment should be to help mature the space through
initiatives like training and co-investments. One useful international initiative that can directly drive in
value to investor networks is Startup Angels. Startup Angels finds opportunities and identifies, recruits
and trains investors in developing regions to invest in the early stages of tech based businesses. New
Angels get to learn about startup investing, and for expert angels to learn about new markets, giving them
access to a network of experienced investors, introducing them to young companies, and providing tools
and training.31

Yet beyond direct financial investment, a new approach is needed that supports startups in gaining the
right people, resources, knowledge, and capital throughout the development process. In the following
sections, we present a two-part startup support program to meet these needs. In the first phase, teams
are extensively vetted and de-risked, and knowledge gaps are filled; in the second, qualifying teams
undergo specialized training and education, and are given access to the resources of the accelerator.

2.3 Selection Process

Choosing which startups to incubate is one of the most important factors in the success of any accelerator.
Pursuing the wrong type of venture – those for whom the accelerator doesn’t have the means or networks
to provide support, or those without the potential to scale – will spell failure. Our proposed accelerator
model employs a rigorous selection process that blends assessment, education, and evaluation to locate
committed teams with the greatest potential. In the first phase, teams are extensively vetted and de-
risked; in the second, they are re-evaluated and given practical training.

26
https://www.middleeastinvestmentnetwork.com
27
http://www.cairoangels.com/
28
http://womena.co/
29
http://www.oqal.org/ar/
30
http://www.tenmou.me/
31
https://startupangels.com

26
2.3.1 Phase 1: De-Risking Potential Teams

The accelerator takes a people-first, idea-second approach to selecting teams. Though it is very difficult
to objectively judge a new founder by the quality of their idea, creative teams with a productive dynamic
can generate and improve upon ideas that may not initially seem promising. Thus, in the first phase of the
accelerator, teams undergo an extensive evaluation process that only briefly assesses the idea, and
focuses primarily on the personalities and dynamics between team members, as well as the balance of
knowledge versus experience on the team. In this phase, the basic areas of interest and assessment
techniques are the following:

Area of Interest Criteria Assessment Technique

Specialization: Generally, does the idea fall

into the accelerator’s area of
specialization?

Technical complexity: How technically Determined in consultation

sophisticated is this idea, and is it feasible with the accelerator’s board
The Idea
given the resources available? of experts as well as outside
consultation if needed.
Manpower required: What is the
manpower required to execute on this
idea, and is it feasible given existing human
capital in the startup and the accelerator?

Established through
Are personalities of team members aligned interactions and interviews
with the personality profiles that have with team members, as well
Personality
been associated with successful as personality tests such as
entrepreneurs? the Myers-Briggs (MBTI)
profile.32

Established through
Do individual skillsets complement each interactions and interviews
Team Dynamics other? Do team member personalities and with team members, as well
skillsets complement each other? as a Myers-Briggs (MBTI)
profile

32
Assessing personality types is not a precise science. However, studies have found that there are certain
personality types which are associated more strongly with entrepreneurship. Both the Founder Institute as well as
ReBootKamp have employed these methods and seen successful outcomes.

27
 Established through
What is the technical background of the interactions and interviews
team? What skills and expertise does the with the team. This is also
Knowledge vs.
team possess? Where is the balance assessed via a Predictive
Experience
between knowledge and experience Admissions Test administered
among the team? prior to accepting teams into
Phase I.

Determined in consultation
Is the initial estimate of funds required to
with the accelerator’s board
Initial Fund Estimate accelerate the startup to launch within the
of experts as well as outside
practical limits of the accelerator?
consultation, if needed.

Depending on the results of this initial assessment, startups may be eligible to receive their first round of
investment. It is important to note, however, that each of the listed areas of interest are weighted with
different importance levels. For example, a startup may still be eligible for support if the team works well
together, even if the original idea was discarded completely. Or, a team with a great idea but little practical
knowledge may still receive support if they complete additional initial training via assigned MOOCs. An
additional benefit of assigning courses is to weed out teams that are not fully dedicated.

During this phase, teams and ideas may undergo extensive modification. The accelerator may require that
teams modify their founding team or talent by removing, replacing or in some cases bring in an additional
team member to balance out skill sets and enhance capabilities. Teams also prepare for phase two with
intensive weeks of accelerated learning, according to a MOOC-based curriculum that’s tailored specifically
to that team’s knowledge gaps. The criteria with least flexibility is the initial fund estimate: if a startup
requires resources that are beyond the capabilities of the accelerator, the accelerator will connect them
to a more relevant partner organization.

During the selection process, we also consider how the various teams will complement each other and
work together. Because of the highly collaborative environment, the accelerator views each cohort as a
tight-knit team rather than a collection of individual startups. When we admit a cohort of startups toto
the accelerator, we want each to add something useful or intriguing to the team, to bring together a wide
range of individual gifts, talents, interests and achievements. In a big-picture sense, we are looking for a
richly varied team of capable people who will support, surprise and inspire each other.

By the end of the first phase, the remaining teams will be comprised of highly driven, committed, and
capable individuals who are able to work together and solve problems in a fast-paced environment.
Potential entrepreneurs have been primed with the skills they need to successfully execute on their ideas,
and the entire cohort has been selected to provide high potential for structured and serendipitous
collaboration.

2.3.2 Phase 2: Re-evaluating and assessing growth

While phase one focused on knowledge and skills, phase two is much more practical. In phase two:

28
 ▪ Ideas are re-evaluated much more deeply to assess their manpower requirement, technical
complexity, investment readiness level, fundability, and required resources.
▪ Because teams have likely been reshuffled, team dynamics and individual skills will be assessed
once again.
▪ Teams will be tested to determine whether they incorporated the knowledge from Phase 1: have
they learned and bolstered their weak points? Or do their knowledge gaps remain the same?
▪ During this phase, the strength of the idea becomes a much more highly-weighted factor.

In phase two, qualifying teams are given access to the resources of the accelerator. This access entails
much more than just access to finance, and is where the open-source philosophy of the accelerator comes
into full effect.

2.3.3 The Program: Taking an Open-Source Approach for Rapid Innovation

We envision this ideal accelerator as a collaborative ecosystem, where people of all skill sets, backgrounds,
and experiences share ideas, best practices, metrics, and feedback. Why? Because helping each other and
sharing expertise leads to faster iteration, more efficient innovation, and faster market growth. To create
and foster this collaborative culture within the accelerator, we take a groundbreaking open source
approach where selected teams are expected to share personal or team talent, resources, and technology
across all existing startups to the greatest extent possible. An overview of the technical aspects of the
accelerator model can be found in Appendix IV.

A NOTE ON OUR TERMINOLOGY AND IMPACT

We use the term accelerator because the end goal of the accelerator is to turn early-stage startups
into investment-ready businesses. However, the program blends aspects of bootcamps, incubators,
and venture builders, as well as accelerators.

In order to define what innovation we seek to support, it is important to define the impact we seek to
create. The mission of such an accelerator is to manufacture a more open and collaborative culture
that values long-term, collective gains over short term private wins, and in doing so, to lay the
foundations for a more socially driven regional ICT hub.

29
Resource Openness Delivery

The accelerator will retain a cadre of consultants in

relevant fields that all teams will have access to via
Basic organizational Open to current teams office hours that can be scheduled through an
resources and alumni internal online system. This will include, for
example, accountants, HR advisors, financial
advisors, and more.
All startups contribute a percentage of their equity
Shared among current goes to the other startups in the cohort, and a
Equity
teams and alumni smaller percentage goes to the alumni (e.g., 1% to
cohort pool; then give a fraction to the alumni).
Open across all current
teams, barring any
Any software, technology, or business model
conflict of interest
Intellectual property developed within the accelerator must be made
(determined in
open and accessible to all other current teams.
consultation with
experts such as JOSA)
All team members have mandatory time
contributions, and must dedicate between 10-20%
of their monthly time to working with other
People Open to current teams startups and solving other people’s problems. This
occurs during weekly huddles, and individuals can
be booked through office hours on the
accelerator’s internal online platform.
Access to networks and people that you know – any
opportunities, investors, etc. – must be shared.
Additionally, the accelerator maintains an
Open to current teams
Networks extensive network of mentors from business and
and alumni
academia, scientific advisors, and experienced
founders and regional partners who have
specialized expertise.
The accelerator collects and maintains data on
Open to current teams;
startups – on customer bases, on what works &
alumni may secure paid
Internal data what doesn’t work. Marketing strategies, customer
access; access to the
acquisition, all of which is shared via an internal
public via referrals
knowledge management system.
“Smart people can fail, but smarter people learn,
iterate, and reapply.” Founders that are highly
talented exhibit high grit and have a lot of
experience to contribute yet fail to bring their
Past founders Open to current teams
startup into fruition have the option to opt in any
other startup and join the team. After all, all
startups have stakes in every wave of startups that
are being accelerated.

30
 EXAMPLE: TIME-SHARING EXAMPLE: WISDOM OF CROWDS

DevEx is a team of four software engineers Computer scientists on the Striada team are
developing an Arabic-language search engine. For testing the concept for an app that uses
the past week, they have been stuck on an Blockchain technology to improve government
algorithm for indexing webpages. transparency and accountability, and reduce
corruption. Yet they are struggling to implement
They discuss this obstacle at a weekly accelerator- part of their idea.
wide huddle, and discover that a member of a
fellow startup has successfully implemented a The team convenes an accelerator-wide, hour-
similar project in the past. long hackathon where they bring together
people from all teams who are familiar with the
After the huddle, DevEx books an hour of her time technology.
later that week using the online office-hours
portal, and she works with them to help resolve Taking advantage of the wisdom of the crowd,
the issue. they are able to quickly arrive at a solution.

EXAMPLE: TAPPING INTO NETWORKS EXAMPLE: SHARED IP

A few years after graduating the program, After DevEx completes its search algorithm,
Accelera realizes that their machine learning another current startup, DreamMachine, realizes
algorithm that matches recent college graduates they can use that algorithm in the project: building
with hiring startups may have applications in a massive online network for universities to share
other markets. They wonder if it could be used to experts, courses, and resources.
match restaurants with food vendors, but know
little about that industry. An expert panel determines there is no conflict of
interest between the two companies, so DevEx is
Accelera checks the accelerator’s database of obligated by their contract with the accelerator to
current startups and alumni, and finds one that give DreamMachine their algorithm.
worked with restaurants. The founders meet, and
Accelera learns about a slew of regulatory issues Later, when DreamMachine successfully exits,
associated with the food industry. This helps steer they begin paying DevEx for use of the algorithm.
them away from a possible failed venture.

31
2.3.4 Continual self-assessment leads to improved long-term performance

The third defining pillar of the model accelerator is measurement, self-evaluation, and continuous
iteration. Too much thinking around what makes successful entrepreneurship is ad hoc and hand-waved;
specific metrics and more accessible data are needed to test assumptions and ensure better decision-
making. The accelerator will continually collect data to learn about whether its methods are working, in
order to keep what is useful, iterate on what’s not, and eventually converge on an optimal approach to
spurring entrepreneurship.

At every point along the pipeline, from talent-building to startup exits, UpSpark and the accelerator will
collect data and assess metrics on what works and what doesn’t work. The possibilities are vast, but some
potential areas to start are the following:

1. Talent phase: Survey bootcamp graduates on their experiences, survey hiring partners on what
they are looking for and whether these needs are being met.
2. Culture phase: Surveys of attendants after every event to gauge what they learned, and what
they would like to learn.
3. Know-how phase: Keep track of attendees, see whether they are more likely to start businesses.
4. Selection phase: What kinds of ideas are people pitching to the accelerator? Are they shallow, or
technically sophisticated? Are they diverse, or do they all fall in a similar theme/area? What kinds
of skills do potential startup teams lack when they come into the accelerator? What are they
proficient in? Adjust education upstream if necessary.
5. General data collection: Collect extensive data on participants in the local, regional, and global
accelerators and incubators; demographic information about teams, idea, sector, goals, investors,
market strategies, business plans, challenges encountered. Use these to improve the program and
to help future startups. Leverage technology analytics to help with decision-making.
6. Ecosystem outcome measurement: Follow up with applicants who were almost accepted, but
ultimately rejected, and with those who dropped out of the program to establish a control group
to allow for the measurement of the causal impact of the accelerator on startup success.

2.4 Contributing to the greater ecosystem directly and indirectly

The accelerator will contribute to the ecosystem through direct and indirect effects. Specific activities
such as investor education will raise the overall sophistication of capital in the ecosystem. By being
rigorous about implementing an open source culture and by working with a broad segment of the
community, the accelerator will also contribute to the development and promulgation of a collaborative,
sharing-based culture.

▪ Education throughout the program leaves a value-added byproduct to the ecosystem’s

knowledge capital. This is a great economic contribution to the sector and the long-term GDP. The
people that leave or drop out leave without a startup but with a higher chance of employability.
▪ We will have partnerships with organizations that accelerate employability on a local and global
level.
▪ Udacity, Salalem, Coursera. All available for free for anyone that enrolled in the program.

32
 ▪ Partnerships with Hiring Partners: Corporates, Startups, or any technical company that is looking
for potential tech talent.

2.4.1 Developing smart capital

Just like entrepreneurial human capital in the region, smart capital can be fostered over time. The
accelerator will run programs similar to those aimed at entrepreneurs and startups, but instead around
investor communities. Partnerships with globally recognized workshops, training programs and investor
networks are critical for maturing the investor sector, and can also drive potential success stories over
time. Additionally, the construction of spaces where investors can share their experience around new
technology enterprises is of vital importance to raise awareness on the challenges and opportunities of
the sector, redirecting capital that would otherwise end up in more traditional, less risky enterprises.
Finally, investment funds normally function better when their teams include people who have been
entrepreneurs with firsthand knowledge of the real challenges faced by startups on their path to
consolidation. Thus, successful founders can be encouraged to become investors to strengthen smart
capital.

Crowdfunding provides another potential source of smart capital. Experimenting with new ways to
leverage the wisdom of crowds via crowd-funded projects is another important component of the
ecosystem. Embedding and activating crowdfunding platforms in accelerators and investor networks is
one such approach. One example of how crowdfunding can be incorporated into an accelerator model is
via investor pairing: a local investor with deep regional knowledge pairs up with a global VC firm to both
invest in the same startup. This gives the global VC firm an opportunity to expand, to learn about new
markets, and find far-flung new ideas. It also provides local startups with access to new ideas and
experienced capital.

Finally, startups themselves can serve as sources of smart capital for each other. This can be done through
coopetition: startups that are in the same market can work together in the exploration of knowledge and
research of new products, at the same time that they compete for market-share of their products and in
the exploitation of the knowledge created. A merger of startups and work teams, which shouldn't
necessarily happen as a purchase of one by the other, but also through alternative models such as share
transfer by the better positioned company to the one that is less so in exchange for joining forces. A
microcosm ethos that is open source by foundation promotes such cultures of collaboration and
cooperation.

33
Conclusion
Communities and countries around the world are seeking ways to nurture innovative businesses, as a way
of solving some of their most urgent economic and societal challenges. There is no single model for
developing a successful innovation ecosystem. Although there is much to learn from other countries about
best practice in institution and program design, attempts to directly replicate organizational models that
operate in very different contexts are likely to fail.

Ultimately, this report provides a framework for emerging economies to develop regionally competitive
entrepreneurial ecosystems. Great ideas are found everywhere in the world, and you don't need to be in
Silicon Valley to turn your ideas into great companies. Early ecosystems that turned heads through the
startups that they created include Hungary, which produced huge startups like Prezi and LogMeln, Estonia,
which created Skype, and Germany, which created SoundCloud and more. Tomorrow’s next big idea could
come from anywhere in the world, from Mumbai, to Amman, to Nairobi, to Havana.
Yet countries can take proactive steps to manufacturing a robust innovation ecosystem by fostering
human capital and developing new institutions to support them. Tech communities and countries should
focus on:

▪ Upending traditional education to rapidly improve talent.

▪ Developing a culture that accepts failure, celebrates entrepreneurs, and encourages
collaboration.
▪ Developing entrepreneurial know-how among the community.

Because collaboration in these contexts is more useful than competition – at least initially – the startup
support institutions need to take a different approach than traditional accelerators. In particular, to see
the greatest gains the fastest, they should:

▪ Have a highly selective admissions process that incorporates education and prioritizes people over
ideas.
▪ Demand collaboration and employ a radically open source philosophy in which the people,
resources, and technologies of startups in the accelerators are all shared.
▪ Constantly collect data and use that data to improve its programs and selection process.

No two economies are similar enough that every recommendation in this report would work equally well
for them. Further, there are numerous questions that each country will have to answer for itself: what is
the role of government in creating such an ecosystem? In what area should we seek to innovate?
Countries should use this report as a starting point: take what applies, discard what doesn’t, and build a
system that works uniquely for them. Any framework needs a clear mission, but an ability to adapt and
experiment. Working towards many different objectives at once or constantly changing strategic direction
can make it difficult to deliver impactful innovation support for businesses. However, a long-term vision
of what success looks like should not prevent any country from experimenting with new approaches, and
responding to new needs and opportunities.

34
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Appendix I: Israel Case in Point
In 1968, when Israel decided to build a science-based economy, there were only 886 R&D workers in
Israel’s civilian sector and the country had an R&D intensity (the ratio of R&D investment to GDP) of 1%,
the second-lowest in the OECD. Policy makers’ vision was not of specific industries but of an economy
whose competitive advantage would be based on continuous invention of products to be sold around the
world.

Over the course of more than 40 years of policy experimentation, the office of the chief scientist in the
Ministry of Trade and Industry has aided in the creation and stimulation of companies capable of carrying
out such invention. Officials identified bottlenecks as they arose and developed policies to relieve them.
In the mid-1970s, for example, policy makers realized that entrepreneurs in a mostly poor, quasi-social-
democratic society (as Israel was then) might not have the knowledge to develop, sell, and service
products for the American market, so they created the Bi-national R&D foundation (BIRD) to finance the
joint development of new products by American and Israeli companies, with the U.S. firms focusing on
product definition, sales, and service, and the Israeli firms on R&D. Then, in the early 1990s, when Israel
already had 4,000 companies with products and revenues but no financiers willing to invest in scaling
them up, officials created the Yozma program to accelerate the Israeli VC industry by infusing it with
foreign know-how and connections to NASDAQ.33

Israel's innovation policy was for decades sectorally-agnostic. Over time the clustering
around certain areas (networking, data security, agritech) occurred initially as an
outcome of solving practical problems that the government prioritized (e.g. security,
food self-sufficiency/working the land) – Daniel Isenberg

No one in 1968’s Israel knew what technologies and innovations would allow Israeli companies to succeed
in 2014. No one even dreamed that a new form of finance, called venture capital, which was taking it first
steps in the United States, would prove crucial in changing the Israeli financial environment 30 years later.
However, the creators of Israel’s innovation policies had a clear vision of the economy they wanted to
develop, were very willing to tweak this vision and their actions to fit the evolving reality, and had a deep
commitment to develop a thriving private industry, knowing that their own status and importance would
diminish as the industry grew.

Over the past 40 years, each and every case of very successful economic growth based on rapid innovation
has been rooted in policy makers’ clear vision of developing an innovation-based economy.

Thus the importance of the “why” question. You need to understand where you are, and where you want
to be, in order to know which best practices to apply, where you need to experiment, and when you need
to change policy as the industry evolves. If you don’t have a goal, and you are not sure where you are,
then you will get nowhere in particular. Applying all the best practices approved by the world’s most
prestigious consultancies to reach goals such as patent numbers and R&D intensity doesn’t show that you
are an innovation leader. It shows only that yours is a risk-averse society enjoying too much capital.

33
http://yozma.com/overview/

37
 Innovation needs risk taking and grand visions. The willingness to face multiple failures
and undertake repeated experimentation to reach a vision is what separates those
who succeed from those who do not.

It is a cardinal sin of innovation policy not to have a vision. It is a second cardinal sin not to be flexible and
experimental in turning this vision into reality.34

34
https://hbr.org/2014/07/the-cardinal-sins-of-innovation-policy

38
Appendix II: Innovation, impact, and accelerators
The underlying assumptions of this report are that emerging economies cannot successfully seed
entrepreneurial ecosystems by following the standard Silicon Valley approach. This is true for many
reasons, but two in particular stand out:

1) Emerging economies do not have the resources to accept a high failure rate. The availability of
venture capital is limited, and government will to invest seriously is weak to non-existent.
2) Primitive competition results in primitive success that is only relevant in its own environment. The
fledgling startup community in Amman cannot survive aggressive competition. And if it does, it
will not produce companies that are relevant on a regional scale.

While there is much to learn from best practices around the world, in order to be successful, we must
take what applies, discard what doesn’t, and build a framework that is uniquely our own.
Following this approach, the framework we develop a framework in which we gradually manufacture an
ecosystem that can withstand competition and produce novel ideas, through open-source collaboration.

We first need to define what kind of impact we seek to create. This is important because without a clear
vision, ‘innovation’ is just tinkering around the edges, and will yield only superficial products and
technologies that won’t survive beyond our own small community. It’s also important because the market
for large accelerators is dominated by giants like Y Combinator and others.

Yet innovation isn’t only about the ‘what,’ but also about the ‘how’ and the ‘why.’ So we innovate on the
approach to accelerators as well. When knowledge capital is undeveloped, we believe that ecosystems
can benefit a lot more from cooperating than from cut-throat competition.

Our approach, then, is to create a cooperative microcosm in which startups collaborate, share ideas,
people, and resources. We open source everything, from IP to mentors to alumni. We bring smart,
motivated people together, and let them learn from each other and benefit from their collective
knowledge. We believe that at the beginning, they will be stronger together than apart. The innovative
products that come out of this stage do not have to be disruptive: they only have to increase the capacity
of the ecosystem to absorb risk, without existential threat.

But we also recognize that such an approach must have an expiration date. As the ecosystem develops
more sophistication talent, as we expand smart capital, and as we develop the resources to take larger
risks, then we can begin to open up the microcosm. Competition can become more intense, and the ideas
that emerge become more relevant and sophisticated.

As this process progresses, elements of open source are still embedded in the culture. People make
decisions about how and when to deploy the open source mentality to benefit maximally from it. If such
an approach is successful in the microcosm, people will start to apply it in the broader ecosystem as well.

Finally, once the entrepreneurial ecosystem gains momentum, it will begin to attract government and
global attention, and will even be able to dictate its own terms. Rather than waiting on government
reform, it will have the credibility and value creation to force progress forward, accelerating it further.

39
Appendix III: Interrogating the role of government
Multiple reports and studies advocate for government involvement in seeding and supporting an
entrepreneurial sector. Indeed, governments around the world are looking for ways to nurture innovative
businesses, as a way of solving some of their most urgent economic and societal challenges. In an ideal
context, governments would invest in R&D and basic science, and work toward improving the regulatory
environment for startups.

Yet the reality is that, particularly in emerging economies, governments may not be prepared to prioritize
investments in creating an entrepreneurial economy. In some cases, governments lack the resources
necessary; in other cases, a highly bureaucratic culture, a gridlocked political environment, or lack of
knowledge about the sector may all prove obstacles to effective partnership with governments.

In these cases, it is neither productive nor realistic to wait for government reform before starting to set
up frameworks for entrepreneurial economies. The private sector, NGOs, and existing technical
associations can and should begin to implement parts of the framework rather than waiting on the
sidelines for governments to change. The recommendations in this report can be implemented
independently of government. In fact, implementing these recommendations and developing the
beginnings of a value-driven entrepreneurial economy may even hasten the process of government
reform as they begin to take the sector more seriously and increasingly prioritize its successful
development. In the short term, there are many avenues that don’t rely on an effective government
partner.

But over the long term, what should government involvement look like?

One point deserves mention up front: the issue often referred to as “picking winners.” The idea is that the
government should not be in the business of choosing some sectors over others and trying to outsmart
the market as to where resources should get allocated. Instead, governments should learn about sector-
specific barriers and provide the necessary sector-specific public inputs to allow entrepreneurs and
startups to move to new activities or to operate existing activities more productively.

They should also be involved in informing the impact that ecosystems should aim for. Governments, which
often have the most complete information about the real problems and needs faced by their populations,
should approach entrepreneurs with technology competencies and to work in ways to link entrepreneurs,
universities, and other governments to develop disruptive solutions.

Ultimately, if entrepreneurs can demonstrate value-creation and potential to drive growth – or even
become successful on their own, without government support – then they will be in a much better
position to advocate for sector-specific support.

40
Appendix IV: Accelerator overview
Mission: To manufacture a more open and collaborative culture that values long-term, collective gains
over short term private wins, and in doing so, to lay the foundations for a regional ICT hub.

Focus: Our starting point will be to focus on ‘feature-based startups’ – teams proposing technologies,
services, or businesses that make use of, and add value to, existing platforms already in wide use. These
ventures are relatively low-risk and low-cost, potentially highly lucrative, and easy to rapidly prototype
and test. In the long term, this approach will allow us to amass the resources and capital to take bigger
risks and invest in original, innovative R&D.

Resources: At present, it is not regionally realistic to expect financial backing from the government. We
will target private investors interested in contributing to long-term regional economic development for
themselves as well that the ecosystem that they are a part.

Selection: The accelerator attracts startups by giving them the opportunity to join a community that
shares, collaborates, teaches, and is rich with mentors, experts, and opportunities for personal and
professional growth.

Delivery: The accelerator takes 8% equity in each startup, and contributes 1.5% of that to a common
equity pool shared among all startups in each cohort. A smaller fraction goes to a pool shared by all alumni.

Post-program support: Alumni stay highly connected to the program as advisors and mentors.
Additionally, they have access to tech-talks, and investor networks, and various types of organizational
data that could benefit them (regional trends, security best practices).

41