Sweden - US Entrepreneurial Forum 2004

Yesterday I was at the Sweden - US Entrepreneurial Forum 2004, which was very insightful in showing the similarities and differences in innovation, legal frameworks and capital accessibility in the two countries. Firstly, as underlined by Mario Cardullo, Counselor to the Under Secretary on Entrepreneurism and Technology, US Department of Commerce, taking the entrepreneurial initiative is by essence an individual responsibility, but it is encouraged (or hampered) by the local environment, which should ideally provide:
- A culture of failure: in this respect, we all have to learn from the USA, where (in most of the cases), failing does not blacklist the entrepreneur, but even gives him credibility in the eyes of investors as a person with guts and drive.
- An appropriate tax structure: high social taxes are in this case not discouraging creation as there are less incentive to go out of one's "comfort zone".
- An consistent training: a component quickly growing here in Sweden, both in Stockholm or Göteborg.

Looking back at the different panels, a shared redline was definitely the concept of networks:
- During the entrepreneurial training, with the close clustering of academia, industry and the support state (i.e. the so-called "Triple Helix" model).
- In the management of innovation and technology: to bridge the "valley of death" gap between funded research and commercial applications, thanks to early-stage funding capital to transform ideas into innovations. This means a rationalized and more daring government through specific programs (e.g. SBIR in the USA) as well as a smoother links between them and the entrepreneurs.
- In the legal and regulatory framework in place. For instance, an organization like the Näringslivets Regelnämnd (NNR - Board of Swedish Industry and Commerce for Better Regulation) maintains close contacts with the private and public sector in order to bring forth laws and regulations promoting entrepreneurship.
- For capital formation: importance of Business Angels Network (e.g. EBAN in Europe, BANSEA in South-East Asia...) and other formal and informal gatherings and associations to use the "catalystic" effect of risk capital the best way.

To wrap-up, some food for thought: quoting a panelist, "The space is divided in three - hunters, gatherers, and farmers". Hunters as the entrepreneurs taking the highest risks, gatherers as the investors, and farmers as the managers settling and growing the venture.