Meet the ESHIP Alliance: New name for the national ecosystem building movement
Stoll is the founding executive director of what is now called the ESHIP Alliance, a nonprofit startup that announced its new name last week in Indianapolis at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC). The GEC is a global conference organized by the Global Entrepreneurship Network (or GEN, which is lovingly pronounced like the name Jen by its many admirers).
Stoll made his announcement alongside GEN founder and CEO Jonathan Ortmans, and right before Right to Start's Victor Hwang, another entrepreneurship booster with his own big announcement.
They're just three of a constellation of groups that have spun off from the Kauffman Foundation 's decades-long investment in entrepreneurship. Last year, Kauffman announced plans to narrow its focus to economic opportunity in its hometown of Kansas City, winding down its national programming funding.
Stoll joked that his ESHIP Alliance could be the younger sister to GEC, which makes the Kauffman Foundation mom and dad, and Hwang a kind of attentive uncle — with plenty of cousins and lots of folksy Midwestern charm to go around.
Catching the ecosystem-building bug
Stoll was a local organizer in Iowa first, working on startups and gatherings in the early 2000s and 2010s. Hwang, once an influential Kauffman executive, gave Stoll the language to describe what he and thousands of others were doing.
'Victor told me: What you're doing is the future of place-based economic development,' Stoll said. 'And I said: I'm doing the what of what?'
In 2012, Hwang published ' The Rainforest,' a widely cited book on local economic development, and in 2017 hired Stoll. Together they produced Kauffman's Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Building Playbook, which put institutional heft behind rag-tag community efforts flourishing around the country.
From 2017-2019, Stoll was emcee and organizer of annual Kauffman-backed ESHIP Summits. Hundreds came from around the country to discuss rebuilding their local economies from the ground up: some were there as part of their jobs, many others were not. But most talk fondly and passionately about being part of something that seemed overlooked then and is now taken more seriously.
Stoll and his team would stock up on colorful post-it notes, markers and engagement activities. As a 2023 Technical.ly report on the origins of inclusive entrepreneurship tracked, many grassroots efforts to reshape local economies took hold after the Great Recession and steadily grew during the 2010s. One of the most enduring is the 'entrepreneurial ecosystem building' that is sometimes called ' place-based economic development ' among industry insiders.
Their shared and primary push: state and local policymakers and civic leaders should put entrepreneurship at the center of their strategies for economic growth, opportunity and development.
Like scripture passages, these believers cite studies showing that new businesses create effectively all net new jobs, and that each 1% increase in entrepreneurship correlates with 2% declines in poverty. The ecosystem metaphor teaches that big institutions are vital, but must prioritize the many differently sized, aged and types of organizations that overlap to make an economy.
NRPs: National ecosystem resource providers
Stoll is friendly, chatty, and millennial nerd chic enough to be among the movement's leaders, backed by the influence and checkbook of the Kauffman Foundation.
Over a decade-plus, from an early Startup Champions summit to SXSW activations and beyond, I've seen Stoll at his most comfortable in a t-shirt, effusing folksy modesty while cracking self-effacing jokes and serving as a community historian of the work, preferably leading an exercise on collaboration with post-it notes.
Pushed out of the comfortable confines of the Kauffman Foundation, Stoll is now stitching together a coalition so this on-the-ground change can last. Among his partners is Black-entrepreneurship focused Forward Cities, which also got its start with Kauffman funding and has been long led by Stoll's years-long collaborator Fay Horwitt.
Together this week, they introduced the ESHIP Alliance's renewed focus to a network of so-called national ecosystem resource providers (NRPs) — organizations that address needs common to many ecosystems or state and local entrepreneurial communities.
'At its core, this alliance is about strengthening the profession of ecosystem building across the United States,' Stoll said in a GEC session. 'We need entrepreneurship, we need ecosystems, but we need to center equity so anyone, anywhere who wants to be an entrepreneur has the opportunity to participate.'
The alliance will gather these resource providers and help advance and formalize 'ecosystem building' as a discipline for state and local governments to embrace. Events, training material and policy positions will help. As part of that work the ESHIP Alliance launched the ESHIP Commons, a social network intended to help ecosystem builders connect, share ideas and find resources.
What's next for the ESHIP Alliance
Turns out Technically itself is an NRP, so I was at one of Stoll's tables at GEC — years since the last time I saw him in action.
On stage, he guided about a hundred NRP leaders through a series of exercises to identify the next set of challenges and potential solutions for ecosystem building. Much to attendee amusement, Stoll's presentation included a photo of him from years ago wearing the same 'Mass Collaboration' t-shirt he wore this week, signaling that while much has changed, many faces haven't.
Horrowit was up next with an exercise that cleverly required attendees to never reference funding as a problem. As she said, 'That's a problem for everyone, give us something new.' That let us focus on more specific obstacles to advance the work of centering entrepreneurship in local policymaking and economic development.
Good for an exercise, but what's next? Stoll, like this conversation, has graduated from the Kauffman nest (the group was initially called the Ecosystem Builders Leadership Network, so the rebrand gives it a fresh start). Entrepreneurship rates have surged post pandemic, led by women and people of color.
That's caught the attention of serious state and local leaders. Stoll, Hwang and so many others have for years advocated for a bigger stage, and now they have it. Stoll donned a dress shirt to get on the GEC main stage and announce his organization's new name. He seemed more at home the next day in his t-shirt, pushing all of us who support local entrepreneurship and innovation efforts across the country.
Said Stoll: 'We have who we need in the room.'
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Technical.ly
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Meet the ESHIP Alliance: New name for the national ecosystem building movement
Andy Stoll has one t-shirt, loads of post-it notes and a new job that's a lot like his old job. Stoll is the founding executive director of what is now called the ESHIP Alliance, a nonprofit startup that announced its new name last week in Indianapolis at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC). The GEC is a global conference organized by the Global Entrepreneurship Network (or GEN, which is lovingly pronounced like the name Jen by its many admirers). Stoll made his announcement alongside GEN founder and CEO Jonathan Ortmans, and right before Right to Start's Victor Hwang, another entrepreneurship booster with his own big announcement. They're just three of a constellation of groups that have spun off from the Kauffman Foundation 's decades-long investment in entrepreneurship. Last year, Kauffman announced plans to narrow its focus to economic opportunity in its hometown of Kansas City, winding down its national programming funding. Stoll joked that his ESHIP Alliance could be the younger sister to GEC, which makes the Kauffman Foundation mom and dad, and Hwang a kind of attentive uncle — with plenty of cousins and lots of folksy Midwestern charm to go around. Catching the ecosystem-building bug Stoll was a local organizer in Iowa first, working on startups and gatherings in the early 2000s and 2010s. Hwang, once an influential Kauffman executive, gave Stoll the language to describe what he and thousands of others were doing. 'Victor told me: What you're doing is the future of place-based economic development,' Stoll said. 'And I said: I'm doing the what of what?' In 2012, Hwang published ' The Rainforest,' a widely cited book on local economic development, and in 2017 hired Stoll. Together they produced Kauffman's Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Building Playbook, which put institutional heft behind rag-tag community efforts flourishing around the country. From 2017-2019, Stoll was emcee and organizer of annual Kauffman-backed ESHIP Summits. Hundreds came from around the country to discuss rebuilding their local economies from the ground up: some were there as part of their jobs, many others were not. But most talk fondly and passionately about being part of something that seemed overlooked then and is now taken more seriously. Stoll and his team would stock up on colorful post-it notes, markers and engagement activities. As a 2023 report on the origins of inclusive entrepreneurship tracked, many grassroots efforts to reshape local economies took hold after the Great Recession and steadily grew during the 2010s. One of the most enduring is the 'entrepreneurial ecosystem building' that is sometimes called ' place-based economic development ' among industry insiders. Their shared and primary push: state and local policymakers and civic leaders should put entrepreneurship at the center of their strategies for economic growth, opportunity and development. Like scripture passages, these believers cite studies showing that new businesses create effectively all net new jobs, and that each 1% increase in entrepreneurship correlates with 2% declines in poverty. The ecosystem metaphor teaches that big institutions are vital, but must prioritize the many differently sized, aged and types of organizations that overlap to make an economy. NRPs: National ecosystem resource providers Stoll is friendly, chatty, and millennial nerd chic enough to be among the movement's leaders, backed by the influence and checkbook of the Kauffman Foundation. Over a decade-plus, from an early Startup Champions summit to SXSW activations and beyond, I've seen Stoll at his most comfortable in a t-shirt, effusing folksy modesty while cracking self-effacing jokes and serving as a community historian of the work, preferably leading an exercise on collaboration with post-it notes. Pushed out of the comfortable confines of the Kauffman Foundation, Stoll is now stitching together a coalition so this on-the-ground change can last. Among his partners is Black-entrepreneurship focused Forward Cities, which also got its start with Kauffman funding and has been long led by Stoll's years-long collaborator Fay Horwitt. Together this week, they introduced the ESHIP Alliance's renewed focus to a network of so-called national ecosystem resource providers (NRPs) — organizations that address needs common to many ecosystems or state and local entrepreneurial communities. 'At its core, this alliance is about strengthening the profession of ecosystem building across the United States,' Stoll said in a GEC session. 'We need entrepreneurship, we need ecosystems, but we need to center equity so anyone, anywhere who wants to be an entrepreneur has the opportunity to participate.' The alliance will gather these resource providers and help advance and formalize 'ecosystem building' as a discipline for state and local governments to embrace. Events, training material and policy positions will help. As part of that work the ESHIP Alliance launched the ESHIP Commons, a social network intended to help ecosystem builders connect, share ideas and find resources. What's next for the ESHIP Alliance Turns out Technically itself is an NRP, so I was at one of Stoll's tables at GEC — years since the last time I saw him in action. On stage, he guided about a hundred NRP leaders through a series of exercises to identify the next set of challenges and potential solutions for ecosystem building. Much to attendee amusement, Stoll's presentation included a photo of him from years ago wearing the same 'Mass Collaboration' t-shirt he wore this week, signaling that while much has changed, many faces haven't. Horrowit was up next with an exercise that cleverly required attendees to never reference funding as a problem. As she said, 'That's a problem for everyone, give us something new.' That let us focus on more specific obstacles to advance the work of centering entrepreneurship in local policymaking and economic development. Good for an exercise, but what's next? Stoll, like this conversation, has graduated from the Kauffman nest (the group was initially called the Ecosystem Builders Leadership Network, so the rebrand gives it a fresh start). Entrepreneurship rates have surged post pandemic, led by women and people of color. That's caught the attention of serious state and local leaders. Stoll, Hwang and so many others have for years advocated for a bigger stage, and now they have it. Stoll donned a dress shirt to get on the GEC main stage and announce his organization's new name. He seemed more at home the next day in his t-shirt, pushing all of us who support local entrepreneurship and innovation efforts across the country. Said Stoll: 'We have who we need in the room.'
Technical.ly
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Founded by trained economist and policy wonk Jonathan Ortmans, the conference is organized by what is now called the Global Entrepreneurship Network (or GEN, pronounced like the name Jen), which Ortmans leads. This year boasted more than 3,000 attendees. 'Entrepreneurs are the new diplomats of the world.' Jonathan Ortmans, Global Entrepreneurship Network Over the following 15 years, the Congress was held the world over, including Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Australia. Last week, GEC was held in the United States for the first time since its start — in Indianapolis, a growing city in a Midwestern state with bipartisan support for business growth and a hook into federal research dollars. 'Entrepreneurs are the new diplomats of the world,' Ortmans said on stage. His opening remarks lamented fading enthusiasm for an interconnected global economy. Elsewhere, he spoke optimistically of what remains bipartisan support for business creation. In the conference's keynote conversation with entrepreneur-turned-celebrity investor Mark Cuban, Ortmans boasted that GEC was held in Moscow in the weeks that followed the Russian invasion of Crimea. Back in March 2014, for the conference-attending entrepreneurs and their supporters from around the world, 'nothing was different.' Whether that sounds like a hardworking ethic or aloof indifference, Ortmans argues entrepreneurs crave stability, clarity and transparency, which benefits everyone else. Alongside Ortmans, Cuban presented as even more optimistic, and idealistic, for Entrepreneur The Diplomat. Cuban gushed about the promise of artificial intelligence to unlock the entrepreneurial spirit around the world, leveling the playing field with just an internet connection. Famously, Silicon Valley notables broke toward supporting Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, but Cuban was a prominent outlier and frequent MAGA critic. He was less directly critical at nonpolitical-striving GEC, and Ortmans encouraged him to widen his lens to consider a global audience in the convention hall that came from at least 130 countries. Tellingly, there was no formal delegation from the American federal government, nor its DOGE-cost-cutting Small Business Administration. (One member of a GEC advisory group politely declined to comment and sensibly encouraged this reporter to focus on the international presence and bipartisan support among state and local American officials.) 'There are plenty of places to talk about politics. If you're an entrepreneur, be an entrepreneur. If your business succeeds, the politicians will come to you,' Cuban advised. 'You want your business to outlast any one politician.' In some sense, it's a hopeful throwback to a more innocent time when a jet-setting elite believed commerce would lead to peace and prosperity. That's the optimistic worldview that led the American government to welcome the Chinese Community Party into the World Trade Organization, and the same that encouraged the German government to rely on the Russian state for its energy security. In recent years, there's been a reversal: Global citizens of international capitals have been humbled into a choice, say more, or say less. During the pandemic, social justice protests demanded that entrepreneurs speak out on a growing list of political issues. Ortmans, Cuban and the spirit of GEN's GEC seem to say something different. As one GEC collaborator has told me: 'Entrepreneurship is my politics.' Informed by the modest, Midwestern style of the Kauffman Foundation, the conference was filled with practical advice for entrepreneurs and local economic development leaders. Common-sense policy discussions happened alongside meet-and-greets between commerce ministers from dozens of countries. Each GEC features a dedicated 'compass room' with a UN-style circular white table with microphones. Its orientation stands in contrast to the Silicon Valley investor-catwalk startup conferences, Austin's hipper-than-thou SXSW and and the sprawling and showy Las Vegas consumer technology shows. Ortmans hopped between sessions and off-site events. He addressed both the launch of a national campaign to center entrepreneurs in next year's anniversary of the American Revolution and at a working session of 'national ecosystem resource providers' — of which Technically is one. 'This is one way back,' Ortmans said of a more pro-growth time. 'Customers matter. Failure doesn't.' Mark Cuban Cuban, who knows something about hip hop and basketball, embodies a brighter optimism than most American elites of late. A thousand of us overflowed conference chairs, and clapped and chuckled at his folksy charm, embodied by the carefully chosen polo-shirt he wore from his Indiana University alma mater,. As ready-for-TV as Cuban is, he still offers practical advice for founders: 'Raising money isn't an accomplishment. It's an obligation.' And in practiced, self-effacement: 'Customers matter. Failure doesn't.' (In contrast, another main-stage panel of Colorado-bred tech startup notables was a snoozefest of self-congratulation from a bygone era.) Cuban advised policymakers and economic development leaders to invest in community, rule of law and lifestyle to attract and retain entrepreneurs: When he chose where to start his businesses, first Indiana and later Texas, 'not one single time did I look at the tax rate first.' Speaking to a crowd with attendees from countries including Iraq, Nigeria and France, he personified his role as the commonsense sage of American-style center-left techno-optimism. Said Cuban: 'An entrepreneur is always an entrepreneur first.'
