Industry Agenda Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Around the Globe and Company Growth Dynamics Report Summary

The report identifies that while entrepreneurial ecosystems vary significantly by region, entrepreneurs globally prioritize three core pillars for growth: accessible markets, human capital, and funding. It highlights the critical role of large companies as both accelerators and inhibitors and argues that government policies are most effective when they empower private actors rather than through direct intervention.

• Entrepreneurs identify three specific pillars of an entrepreneurial ecosystem as being of pivotal importance for company growth: accessible markets, human capital/workforce, and funding & finance.
• There are significant regional disparities in the availability of ecosystem pillars; for instance, Silicon Valley shows high availability across most pillars except for regulatory framework/infrastructure, while within Europe, the United Kingdom has the highest availability and Spain the lowest.
• A small minority of 'breakout' companies drive the majority of economic impact in the early-stage sector; the top 1% of companies contribute 44% of total sector revenues by their fifth year, while the top 10% contribute 84%.
• Growth accelerators and challenges are remarkably consistent across different continents, countries, and industries. The top four accelerators are market opportunity, top management, human resources, and funding & finance, while the top four challenges are funding & finance, human resources, market opportunity, and government & regulatory.
• Large companies can accelerate early-stage growth through customer engagement, credibility enhancement, and go-to-market partnerships, but they can also inhibit growth through predatory contracting, regulatory capture, and bureaucratic hurdles that make it difficult for start-ups to attract their attention.
• Successful entrepreneurial ecosystems take significant time to develop; for example, the technology ecosystem in Buenos Aires took approximately 15 years to emerge from its first steps in the mid-1990s.
• Government policies are perceived as both accelerators and inhibitors. While some provide essential grants and visa flexibility, others create 'red code' environments characterized by bureaucracy, complexity, and a 'redistribution mindset' that can drive entrepreneurs to leave a country.
• Governments are encouraged to support ecosystems by empowering private actors and improving bankruptcy regulations and scientific research pathways rather than using government-run incubators or venture funds, which have a mixed track record.

APA

Foster, G., Shimizu, C., Ciesinski, S., Davila, A., Hassan, S. Z., Jia, N., Plunkett, S., Pinelli, M., Cunningham, J., Hiscock-Croft, R., McLenithan, M., Rottenberg, L., Morris, R., & Lee, D. (2013). Industry Agenda Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Around the Globe and Company Growth Dynamics Report Summary. World Economic Forum. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_EntrepreneurialEcosystems_Report_2013.pdf

Chicago

Foster, George, Carlos Shimizu, Steve Ciesinski, Antonio Davila, Syed Zahoor Hassan, Ning Jia, Sandy Plunkett, et al. Industry Agenda Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Around the Globe and Company Growth Dynamics Report Summary. World Economic Forum, 2013. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_EntrepreneurialEcosystems_Report_2013.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{foster2013industry, author = {Foster, George and Shimizu, Carlos and Ciesinski, Steve and Davila, Antonio and Hassan, Syed Zahoor and Jia, Ning and Plunkett, Sandy and Pinelli, Maria and Cunningham, John and Hiscock-Croft, Rebecca and McLenithan, Michelle and Rottenberg, Linda and Morris, Rhett and Lee, Diane}, title = {{Industry Agenda Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Around the Globe and Company Growth Dynamics Report Summary}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2013}, month = sep, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_EntrepreneurialEcosystems_Report_2013.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }