The role of academia in fostering Entrepreneurial ecosystem

1. The role of academia in fostering Entrepreneurial ecosystem

2. How do youdefine an entrepreneurial ecosystem? In the 1930s, British botanist Arthur Tansleyintroduced the termecosystem to describe a community of organismsinteractingwitheachother and theirenvironments—air, water, earth, etc. In order to thrive, theseorganismscompete and collaboratewitheachother on availableresources, co-evolve, and jointlyadapt to external disruptions. Bioticelements: living organisms – ieproducers, consumers, and decomposers, the former representing all plant life, consumers the organismsthateatthem and eachother. Abioticfactors, or the non-living components of an ecosystem, can beclimatic, social and edaphic (influenced by the soil or ground type). Withoutabioticfactors, no ecosystem can provide for bioticfactors.

3. How do youdefine an entrepreneurial ecosystem? Moore (1993) defined the business ecosystem as follows: « An economiccommunitysupported by a foundation of interactingorganizations and individuals—the organisms of the business world. The economiccommunityproducesgoods and services of value to customers, who are themselvesmembers of the ecosystem. The memberorganismsalsoincludesuppliers, lead producers, competitors, and other stakeholders. Over time, theyco-evolvetheircapabilities and roles and tend to alignthemselveswith the directions set by one or more central companies. Thosecompanies holding leadership rolesmay change over time, but the function of ecosystem leader isvalued by the communitybecauseit enables members to move towardshared visions to aligntheirinvestments and to findmutuallysupportiveroles ».

4. How does France build an entrepreneurial ecosystem? The French Tech ecosystem Underlyingconcern Successfullymaking the transition to digital wouldgive French GDP by half-percentage-point boost everyyear. France alreadyboasts a dynamic start-up ecosystem. Whoknew, for example, that five of the top twelveconnectedobjectssold via the Apple Store in the United States were French? Whoknewthat French web companiesgenerated an average 39% of their turnover in international markets, as opposed to 3% for otherSMEs, or that 87% of the employmentcontractsoffered by digital start-ups in France were permanent?

5. How does France build an entrepreneurial ecosystem? The French Tech ecosystem

6. How does France build an entrepreneurial ecosystem? The French Tech ecosystem The State does not lead, it supports The French Tech initiative waslaunched by the Governmentbased on a certain philosophy – to capitalise on initiatives developed by French Tech membersthemselves and build on existingideas to create a snowballeffect. It isthereforea shared ambition givenimpetus by the State but supported and constructedwith all stakeholders.

7. How does France build an entrepreneurial ecosystem? The French Tech ecosystem Uniting and accelerating The “French Tech” brand isassociatedwith the certification of extraordinaryregionalecosystemsknown as “Métropoles French Tech”(“French Tech Centres”).  Nine initial centres obtained French Tech certification in November 2014 followed by a second wave of certifications in June 2015, creating four new French Tech Centres (Brest, Lorraine, Nice and Normandy) and four themedecosystems (Saint-Étienne, Alsace, Avignon and Angers).Cities applying for certification had to show thatitwas home to start-ups thathadcompletedsubstantialfundraisingcampaigns and entrepreneurs able to support projects and help young businesses. Theywerealsorequired to have incubators and acceleratorsthatwould enable SMEs to develop and grow at different stages in their life cycles.

8. How does France build an entrepreneurial ecosystem? The French Tech ecosystem Exerting an influence French Tech switched up a gear in 2015, adopting a threefoldapproachaimed at shapingits international dimension 1. The emergence of French Tech Hubs within major international innovation regions. Following New York, Israel, Tokyo, San Francisco and Moscow in 2015, six new hubs werecertified on 29 January 2016: Abidjan, Cape Town, London, Barcelona, Hong Kong, Montreal, Beijing, Berlin, Dubai, Los Angeles, Milan, Sao Paolo, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Taiwan and Vietnam. 2. Launch of the French Tech International Attractiveness Platform. This programme, which has a total budget of 15 million euros, isdesigned to support privatesector initiatives in particularwith the aim of enhancing and promoting French excellence in the field of innovation. 3. A “welcome pack”, the French Tech Ticket to encourage foreign entrepreneurs to createtheir start-ups in France. This welcome pack comprises a grant for the entrepreneur and support for the setting-up of their business, a residence permit and a place in an incubator.

9. How does France build an entrepreneurial ecosystem? « Esprit d’entreprendre » Objectives of the plan « Esprit d’Entreprendre » Boost the teaching of entreneurshipfrom basic concepts to specialized programs and PhD thesis Promote entrepreneurial projects in the curricula instead of consideringentrepreneurship as an academicconstraint Improve the recognition of soft skills and competencesdeveloped by students-entrepreneurs Use Entrepreneurship as a leverage to promotediversity (social, gender…) Support the entrepreneurial projectsundertaken by highly-motivatedstudents Use PEPITE facilities as clusters enablingcreativity and innovation

10. How does France build an entrepreneurial ecosystem? « Student – Entrepreneur » status • The entrepreneurial project can beconsidered as a creditbearing final internship • The student can launch hisentreprenurialprojectwhilestillbenefitingfrom the social advantages of itsstudentstatus. • The student can use the PEPITE Co-Workingfacilities • Joint-mentorship by a facultymemeber and an entrepreneur • Close links withbanks, venture capital and privateequity

11. Economy and sociology of the French Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Threenecessaryingredients Money Know-how (Entrepreneurial) Spirit of rebellion Thesethreeingredients are present in every country but in variable proportions. In essence, the level of inter-dependencybetweentheseingredientsseems to be more criticalthantheir respective proportions In otherwords, isthere a favorable mix betweeninvestors, engineers and rebels in a giventerritory? The combination of theseingredients tell us a lot about the history as well as the economic and the sociological structure of a givenregion / ecosystem. Italian district, oilcurse

12. Economy and sociology of the French Entrepreneurial Ecosystem MONEY is not a scarceresource in France but the economicsystemsisinheritedfrom the oldregimewith a strong central administration and a generally spread notion of delagation of public services with the associatedannuity and fixedincomemindsets (Taxi drivers, barristers, pharamcists, farmers, etc.)  Risk-adverse mindset In addition, money istied-up in capital intensive activitiessuch as tourism, transportations, utilities mostlymanaged by large (formerly state-owned) companies. Even venture capitalists are closelylinked to state-owned institutions (BPI France).

13. Economy and sociology of the French Entrepreneurial Ecosystem KNOW-HOW is a national strengthbut its allocation couldbe more efficient. French engineers are among the best in the world but they are used in a cost-basedview and not in an added-value one. • French engineers are reluctant to work in R&D and prefermanagerial positions  So theychoose positions in consulting (Big 4) or large companies • As R&D issubsidized, so are the few engineersworking in technical positions. Sideeffects : sub-contracting of large multinational companies individualtrade-off to the detriment of entrepreneurship

14. Economy and sociology of the French Entrepreneurial Ecosystem FRENCH PEOPLE ARE REBELS (if youeverdoubt about it) but disruptions and the success of entrepreneurs isoftenquestionned and more especiallywhentheir innovations change the rules of the game (delegation of public services or historicalmonopolies/oligopolisticmarkets). This is the case everywhere but, compared to the US, French rebels do not oftencollaboratewith money and know-how…

15. Strategic plan 2020-24 New mission statement ESSCA School of Management createsknowledge and developsresponsible managers and entrepreneurs, whilefullyconsidering the human, ethical and economic dimensions of organisations in a multiculturalenvironmentdriven by technology and social innovations.

16. Thankyou for your attention

17. How does France build an entrepreneurial ecosystem? « PEPITE » La généralisation des formations à l’entrepreneuriat et à l’innovation pour les étudiants dans toutes les filières, tous les cursus, de la licence au doctorat • La création du statut national « Étudiant-Entrepreneur » pour les étudiants ou jeunes diplômés porteurs de projet de création d’entreprise • Le Prix PEPITE - Tremplin pour l’Entrepreneuriat Étudiant • La diffusion des ressources pédagogiques en entrepreneuriat et en innovation auprès des établissements • La sensibilisation et la formation des étudiants à l’entrepreneuriat et à l’innovation • L’accompagnement des projets entrepreneuriaux des étudiants et des jeunes diplômés avec le soutien de leurs partenaires • La mise en réseau des porteurs de projets avec les structures d’accompagnement et de financement • L’attribution d’un statut national « Étudiant-Entrepreneur » aux étudiants ou aux jeunes diplômés porteurs d’un projet de création d’entreprise en lien avec les établissements • L’accès à des concours, notamment au Prix PEPITE - Tremplin pour l’Entrepreneuriat Étudiant