Strategy & Leadership

Informal innovation: Networks that power start-up cities

May 17, 2016

Global

May 17, 2016

Global
Charles Ross

Asia editorial director

Charles Ross is Principal of Policy and Insights in Asia-Pacific and leads the region's technology and society practice. Prior to this role, he was editorial director for The Economist Intelligence Unit overseeing all thought leadership research in Asia. Charles combines a deep understanding of how technology trends are reshaping business and society with excellent research and editorial skills, to create impactful and award-winning research programmes for clients. Charles is currently based in Australia and has led many projects analysing the implications for business of new technology trends such as blockchain, fintech, smart cities, cloud computing, sustainability and the internet of things, for Google, Stripe, SAP, Telstra, Microsoft, Prudential, Westpac and the Singapore government. He is a contributing industry expert to the UN Science Policy and Business Forum on the Environment and a frequent speaker at finance and technology events across the region. Charles holds a master of business administration, focusing on strategy and organisational change, from the University of Oxford and a certificate in public policy analysis from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Informal professional networks and communities are more important for entrepreneurs than formal structures such as incubators and accelerators.

This research is based on a survey of 1,000 entrepreneurs across ten cities with reputations as innovation hubs. It finds that start-up founders value informal meet-ups and virtual communities more than other factors in overcoming challenges such as identifying funding sources, grappling with red tape and dealing with the fear of failure.

Over half of the survey group (58%) take part in business-oriented social networking groups on global platforms such as Facebook or LinkedIn. Entrepreneurs in Ho Chi Minh City are the most prolific, with 39% taking part in more than ten groups. Singapore and San Francisco entrepreneurs are almost as active, with 34% and 32% of respondents respectively.  

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