What’s New

Over the past year, I’ve been seeing growing critiques of various business accelerator programs, especially those focused on technology sectors. (You can find some examples here and here.)  The critics present a number of claims.  Some simply don’t like government support for startups. For others, the traditional tech accelerator, focused on apps and IT, is becoming less relevant in the age of AI and deep tech innovation.

These growing critiques suggest that it might be time to rethink current business acceleration approaches and test some new models and ideas.  I’m not yet sure which approaches will work best, but I’m excited to see some new ideas out in the marketplace.  The latest comes from Workday and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), who have launched the Workday Foundation Solopreneurship Accelerator Program.  This small experiment will provide small grants ($10,000) to solopreneurs developing new AI tools and resources. The effort is targeted to non-traditional entrepreneurs who typically can’t access the classic tech accelerator programs focused on large exits and venture capital investing.  Instead, the effort helps local people learn how to use AI to support business and community needs. 

We’ll see how this effort pans out, but it’s inspiring to see test programs of this sort.  I hope to see more experimentation going forward.

We’re out with a new issue of our e-newsletter, EntreWorks Insights. This issue examines how smaller and at-risk communities have fared during the recent period of heavy public spending, and how they might prepare for what might be a fiscal shock as these funding sources begin to dry up. You can learn more and subscribe here.

We’re out with a new issue of our regular e-newsletter, EntreWorks Insights. This issue examines how many state and local economic development programs are pivoting to developing more talent-friendly places to attract, retain and develop talented workers and their families. You can access the newsletter and subscribe here.

We’re celebrating twenty years at EntreWorks Consulting this month, and have a new newsletter to share as well! Thanks to our friends, colleagues, and, most of all, our customers for your support and encouragement.

It’s been a while, but we’re back with the latest edition of our e-newsletter, EntreWorks Insights. This one takes a dive into interesting workforce policy experiments driven by the pandemic. For the first time in recent history, independent and gig economy workers were eligible for unemployment benefits, and the effort was an essential lifeline for at-risk workers. What needs to happen to make this new policy a permanent part of a new and improved social safety net for the gig economy? We offer a few ideas and suggestions in this essay. You can learn more and subscribe here.

We’ve got a new issue of our e-newsletter, EntreWorks Insights, out today. We’re looking at the concept of the foundational economy as a lens to support a more inclusive economic recovery and to build stronger and more resilient businesses. You can learn more and access the newsletter here.

The latest edition of our newsletter, EntreWorks Insights, is available. Click on the newsletter link to view.