Serial entrepreneurs in the Waterloo ecosystem

Ensign, Prescott C.; Farlow, Steve Article Serial entrepreneurs in the Waterloo ecosystem Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Provided in Cooperation with: Springer Nature Suggested Citation: Ensign, Prescott C.; Farlow, Steve (2016) : Serial entrepreneurs in the Waterloo ecosystem, Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, ISSN 2192-5372, Springer, Heidelberg, Vol. 5, Iss. 20, pp. 1-15, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-016-0051-y This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/146862 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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Ensign 1* and Steve Farlow 2 * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Lazaridis School of Business & Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Full list of author information is available at the end of the article Abstract The framework for this study is based on the research and literature related to serial entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Our sample is 12 serial entrepreneurs within a single context—the Waterloo Region—that has been ranked as one of the top start-up ecosystems in the world. In 2012, it was ranked 16th with 32 % of the start-ups identified as being led by serial entrepreneurs. The study provides an understanding of the characteristics that define a mature ecosystem, with specific input on the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. We profile the 12 entrepreneurs to provide a review of their businesses, the contributions they have made within their ecosystem, and their statements on what they have learned in the process of leading multiple ventures. This research may be useful for communities and nations that seek to focus on entrepreneurship as a means for economic growth. It should also stimulate further research on contextual issues and examine serial entrepreneurs within their own ecosystem. Keywords: Serial entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurial ecosystem, Venture creation, Waterloo Region Background Entrepreneurs have been viewed as the engines that can move the economy forward, providing new businesses that add to entrepreneurial ecosystems in geographic regions (Grebel 2007; Grebel et al. 2003; Metcalfe 2004; Schumpeter 1934; Witt 1998). But entrepreneurs are unevenly distributed individually and geographically (Acs and Armington 2004; Audretsch et al. 2006; Fritsch 2008). As Ucbasaran et al. (2008) note, entrepreneurial behavior is increasingly recognized as being heterogeneous with regard to variations in the level and nature of experiences. It is useful to make some distinction among entrepreneurs that delineate this experience factor. Westhead and Wright (1998) provide a starting point by defining entrepreneursasthosewhostart,inherit, or purchase a business. The result is that research focuses on the different types of entrepreneurs: first-time (novice) entrepreneurs and experienced (habitual) entrepreneurs. Habitual entrepreneurs are those that have had ownership in more than one business, sequentially (serial entrepreneurs) and/or concurrently (portfolio entrepreneurs) (Ucbasaran et al. 2008). Habitual entrepreneurs are an important group to study because of the large number of businessestheycreateandtheuniquewaythattheyparticipateinventurecreation activities (Spivack et al. 2014). Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurshi p © 2016 Ensign and Farlow. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Ensign and Farlow Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2016) 5:20 DOI 10.1186/s13731-016-0051-y Conceptual frameworks One way to look at habitual entrepreneurs is to examine them from the perspective of psychological capital—the impact of behavior relative to success and failure (Baluku et al. 2016). Some investigations have focused on the psychological processes that motivate habitual entrepreneurs, such as the concept of addiction (Morris et al. 2012; Rey- Martí et al. 2015; Spivack et al. 2014; York et al. 2015). A second way is to use a human capital approach to examine the correlation between task relatedness (vis-à-vis the accumulation of entrepreneurial experience, knowledge, and skills) and entrepreneurial outcomes (Unger et al. 2011). A third conceptual approach is to take a social capital perspective. Social capital here refers to the benefits entrepreneurs derive from their social networks. As Baron (2015) notes, social capital and social network studies have focused on various descriptors with regard to its nature and distinguishing characteristics. He suggests that further research needs to look at entrepreneurship from a social capital perspective. A fourth way to look at habitual entrepreneurs is to use an entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective. This view is holistic and seeks to understand the institutions and structures (formal and informal) that help to develop and maintain entrepreneurial human capital within a specific context or ecosystem (Baron and Markman 2003; Davidsson and Honig 2003; Lengyel et al. 2015; Mason and Brown 2014; Napier and Hansen 2011; Westlund and Bolton 2003). The ecosystem helps entrepreneurs build social capital because of the abundance of individuals involved in entrepreneurship. In effect, they have opportunities for networking and exchange of ideas within the ecosystem because of the ecosystem. In the case of serial entrepreneurs, they learn from each other’s successes and failures, hire people that may already have experience in an entrepreneurial venture, and recycle their money and knowledge back into the ecosystem. This study looks at a sample of 12 serial entrepreneurs—defined as those who have had more than one venture creation experience—who are situated in the Waterloo, Ontario, region. For this study, we focus on the context where entrepreneurs build a business (Ucbasaran et al. 2001). Our sample of serial entrepreneurs is set in the Waterloo entrepreneurial ecosystem. They primarily draw from and contribute to the network or amalgam of individuals, organizations, and resources within this setting. This ecosystem or context can provide both formal and informal benefits as well as, perhaps, some limitations. More specifically, an entrepreneurial ecosystem can stimulate successful economic activity resulting in subsequent innovation and commercialization—whether seen as discreet iterations or a continuous, seamless process. The Waterloo entrepreneurial ecosystem An entrepreneurial ecosystem approach provides a contextual perspective for analyzing and understanding the serial entrepreneurs and their social network (Feld, 2012; Hathaway, 2013; Isenberg, 2011). The definition of entrepreneurial ecosystems is basedonMasonandBrown’s (2014; p. 5) synthesis of the literature. An entrepreneurial ecosystem is: a set of interconnected entrepreneurial actors (both potential and existing), entrepreneurial organizations (e.g. firms, venture capitalists, business angels, banks), institutions (universities, public sector agencies, financial bodies) and entrepreneurial Ensign and Farlow Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2016) 5:20 Page 2 of 15 processes (e.g. the business birth rate, numbers of high growth firms, levels of ‘blockbuster entrepreneurship’, number of serial entrepreneurs, degree of sell-out mentality within firms and levels of entrepreneurial ambition) which formally and informally coalesce to connect, mediate and govern the performance within the local entrepreneurial environment. The Waterloo Region of Ontario, Canada, has been recognized as an entrepreneurial hotbed that produces, attracts, and retains serial entrepreneurs. In the Global Start-up Ranking 2012 by Start-up Genome (now Compass), Waterloo is ranked 16 th . On the index of characteristics, 32 % of the start-ups in Waterloo were done by serial entrepreneurs. Those with 50 % or more were Silicon Valley and New York City (both 56 %); Los Angeles (55 %); Boston (51 %); and Moscow and Vancouver (50 %). Those with 40 % or more were Tel Aviv (47 %); Sydney (45 %); Toronto (44 %); London (42 %); and Berlin (40 %). Those with 30 % or more were Paris (37 %); Melbourne (33 %); and Waterloo and Singapore (both 32 %). Most of those on the list have significant populations compared to the Waterloo Region with 500,000 residents. This is an important point since the 2012 data indicated that the Waterloo ecosystem had a start-up density second only to Silicon Valley and 50 % higher than the third ranked region. The Global Start-up Ecosystem rankings attempt to measure the world’s leading start-up ecosystems based on broad infrastructure of talent, education, entrepreneurs, venture capital, and companies that make up a start-up community. The report also measures these ecosystems based on quality of talent, pool of venture capital resources, experience and mentorship provided by start-up founders, market reach of their companies, and the performance and exit value of companies. Descriptors of Waterloo’s entrepreneurial ecosystem There are many factors that make the Waterloo ecosystem a remarkable context for the creation of new ventures. These are outlined in Table 1. Waterloo has a knowledge-based economy including firms in the high-tech and insurance sectors as well as two universities. Waterloo’s technology sector has hundreds of high-tech firms. The dominant and largest technology firm is Research In Motion/ BlackBerry, founded in 1984. Many high-tech companies (with headquarters elsewhere) have research and development centers within the Waterloo ecosystem: Sybase, Google, Oracle, Intel, McAfee, NCR Corporation, Electronic Arts, Christie Digital, and Agfa. Waterloo also has the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and Institute for Quantum Computing. With regard to the universities, both have a strong emphasis on entrepreneurship. Undergraduates at the University of Waterloo (UW) may complete up to 24 months of co-op placements; Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU) students up to 12 months. UW has a start-up incubator for students called Velocity Garage. WLU Lazaridis School of Business and Economics has the Schlegel Center for Entrepreneurship, and students who graduate are prepared to embark on an entrepreneurial journey via the LaunchPad. And jointly, UW and WLU join forces through the Accelerator Centre. The Waterloo ecosystem also has structured entrepreneurship centers. Communitech—established in 1997 by local tech leaders—supports a tech cluster of nearly 1000 companies at all stages of their growth and development—including stalwart veterans Ensign and Farlow Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2016) 5:20 Page 3 of 15 looking to rejuvenate. It supports companies in commercializing innovation and technology, with the goal of creating successful global businesses. Some of its features are Communitech Hub, Waterloo Innovation Summit, Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, mentoring programs, and sponsored events. The ecosystem also has active angel investors, recycling their profits back into the community to help other entrepreneurs with funding. In the past 5 years, 1845 new technology start-ups have been started in the Waterloo Region. A 2013 PricewaterhouseCoopers survey attributes more than 20,000 jobs to the region’svibrantecosystem. Methods The research approach was to select a sample of 12 serial entrepreneurs who operate in the context of this technology-centered, entrepreneurial environment. They were identified by key persons within the ecosystem, personal understanding of the Waterloo social network, and coverage in multiple publications. The information on these people Table 1 Characteristics of an entrepreneurial ecosystem a Place-specific assets Distinguishing features of Waterloo 1. Large high-tech firms Research In Motion (RIM)/BlackBerry ●Entrepreneur blockbuster led Initially Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin ●Talent magnets Global recruiting ●Business training Acquire skills as technology manager ●Produce spin-offs Downsizing led to new start-ups 2. Universities Undergraduate and graduate programs ●University of Waterloo Engineering/technology with co-op program ●Wilfrid Laurier University Business/management with co-op program ●Research Centers Innovation, entrepreneurship and R&D 3. Entrepreneurial recycling Exits and cash outs ●Reinvesting wealth Business angels ●Reinvesting skills Serial entrepreneurs ●Reinvesting experience Mentors, advisors, teaching 4. Information rich Access to information and knowledge ●Formal Forms, blogs, organizations, etc. ●Informal Connector socio-cultural norm 5. Deal makers Informal key linchpins 6. Culture of inclusion All means all ●Open to newcomers Wide sharing of knowledge and experience ●Failures are not shunned Philosophy of experimentation and failure ●Porous boundaries Accepts moving from one company to another 7. Funding sources Critical mass for seed and start-ups ●Angel investors Cashed out and current entrepreneurs ●Accelerators and incubators Start-up to scale-up ●Venture capital Local investors connected to internationals 8. Structured entrepreneurship help Industry-led innovation cluster ●Centers of support Communitech, incubators, accelerators, etc. 9. Service providers Lawyers, accountants, consultants, etc. 10. Local support Municipal and regional a Suggested by Mason and Brown (2014; pp. 8–12); Napier and Hansen (2011; pp. 1–24); and Ucbasaran et al. (2001) Ensign and Farlow Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2016) 5:20 Page 4 of 15 was obtained from publicly available web pages on the entrepreneurs and firms as well as newspaper articles and blogs that include biographical information, self-reported insights and reflections, and involvement in the community. As such, this provides a profile of each serial entrepreneur’s businesses, contribution to the ecosystem (service), insights, and reflections. The findings are qualitative in terms of presenting descriptive information for each serial entrepreneur. We have also summarized their views, reflections, and advice in the final section of the paper. Serial entrepreneurs: ventures and contributions in the ecosystem The focus in this section is on the serial entrepreneurs themselves. The sample has been chosen because their venture activities are within the context of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region of Waterloo—consisting of the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener, and Waterloo. The venture activity data for each entrepreneur is provided in two sections. The first section entails an overview of the enterprises each entrepreneur leads and his/her contribution to the local ecosystem. The second section provides their personal input on what they have learned in their path as entrepreneurs. Randall J. Howard is deeply connected to the ecosystem, starting with a degree in math at the UW. His first endeavor was as co-founder of Coherent in the US. He returned to Waterloo and never left. He is well known for having founded (1984) and grown one of the early tech success stories in Waterloo—Mortice Kern Systems—an enterprise software vendor that had revenue of $50M, 400 employees, and became a public company before it was sold to PTC for $304M. He is co-founder and partner of VERDUXUS—a transatlantic boutique fusing a network of serial technology entrepreneurs with investment in a proactive and hands-on methodology to build worldleading, high-growth technology organizations. He is also CEO of Middlebrook Corp. These are just a few of the technology ventures with his involvement. His contributions to the local ecosystem are even more impressive. He was cofounder of Communitech—a local organization that is the backbone for the development of entrepreneurship within the ecosystem. To jump-start the Waterloo investment scene, he helped launch Golden Triangle Angelnet for which he received the Canadian Angel of the Year Award in 2014. He has served in a board or advisory role at many firms (many acquired or taken public) as well as the Dean’sAdvisory Council at WLU’s Lazaridis School of Business and Economics. His current interests and community service include social entrepreneurship ventures. A recent project to establish the China Angel Mentorship Program, aimed at bringing young entrepreneurs from Canada and China together to promote global entrepreneurship. A headline statement on his home page reads: “Exploring the intersection of technology, strategy, investment, and social innovation.” Yvan Couture has close ties to the local ecosystem. He claims his path to entrepreneurship started when he failed miserably in his first business venture. After earning his MBA from the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at WLU, he launched his technology career at Focus Automation. In 1991, he created TAAZ—a consulting firm serving emerging technology companies—and stayed there for 9 years. He moved to Mitra—a healthcare informatics leader—and then led negotiations for its sale in 2002. He has been an active angel investor since the sale of Mitra. His career at Primal Ensign and Farlow Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2016) 5:20 Page 5 of 15 started as a seed investor. He joined the founder as CEO in 2006, taking the founder’s innovations to drive the company forward. He has served as chairman of the Official Community—the first company to commercialize a business model that intersects e-commerce, social media, and entertainment. He was a co-founder of Communitech—the entrepreneurship center that was established with Randall Howard—and co-founder of the Atlas Group. According to public sources, Couture is driven by two interrelated passions: helping great technology entrepreneurs turn disruptive ideas into successful companies and creating wealth from these companies that stays in the community. His own comments repeat this: “I love disruptive technology and the people who create them. I partner with exceptional innovators or entrepreneurs and help them build real commercial enterprises.” John Bell is described as an entrepreneur at heart. In Bell’s own words, he started his first business after being fired from another. “I never wanted the humiliation of cleaning out my desk drawer –that’s the day I became an entrepreneur.”He started Shred- Tech with $10,000 he borrowed from his mother. The first year it had sales of $70,000. Sales reached $15M by the time he sold it in 1995. He could have retired but chose to buy a local factory—Polymer Technologies—that was poised to put 90 people out of work. In 1995 he founded Onbelay Investments. Since then, he has been scouting opportunities in many industries and investing along the way. He believes it is not just about the products but about the people. Some describe him as showing others the way. Bell indicates that community work is in the family DNA. He fills his calendar with a list of community work including a hefty share of board work. These contributions have included Waterloo Regional Police Services Board, President’s Advisory Council and Campaign Cabinet at WLU, and work with two regional chambers of commerce to form the Prosperity Council. Razor Suleman graduated from WLU’s Lazaridis School of Business and Economics and MIT’s Entrepreneurial Masters Program. He has many ventures to his credit. He created a branded merchandising company—Razor’s Edge—when he was still a student. In June 2002, he founded Snap—the Amazon.com of branded promotional products. Its technology has powered the stories of many large companies. Snap was acquired by Integrus with a return of eight times investors’capital. He was founder and CEO of I Love Rewards (2002–2012)—the first SaaS rewards and social recognition company. It was backed by Sequoia VC and raised $35M in three venture capital rounds. He is the founder of Achievers—a company focused on employee rewards and social recognition (also backed by Sequoia). Business Insider (July 2, 2015) reported that he sold it to Blackhawk Network for $110M in cash rather than make it an IPO because they were willing to keep the team on board and keep the brand. He is a partner in Alignvest Management Corporation—an international alternative investment management firm. He has guided two companies—Razor’s Edge and I Love Rewards—to a place on the PROFIT 100 ranking of Canada’s fastest growing companies. Marc Morin is a graduate of the two universities in Waterloo’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. His undergraduate degree in electrical engineering is from UW and he completed an MBA at WLU. He worked as a software engineer at HP (1987–1996) before starting his first venture with two UW graduates. PixStream developed specialized digital video-streaming technology. It was acquired by Cisco Systems for $554M in Ensign and Farlow Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2016) 5:20 Page 6 of 15 December 2000 and subsequently shuttered. 1 He soon after co-founded Sandvine, a provider of intelligent broadband networking equipment. He co-founded Emforium Group Inc., serving as president and CEO. It provided Internet-based software solutions for small business including trademarked ALL-IN Software. He co-founded Auvik Networks with two successful entrepreneurs who are also graduates of both UW and WLU. Auvik Networks is a cloud-based network operations/ management system. The trio received $6M in seed funding from Celtic House Venture Partners, Rho Cana Ventures, and Business Development Bank of Canada in 2013. Morin explained the significance of his social network developed in the university: “Those connections are invaluable. The people I met in my classes have made all the difference to my success. One is a VC and one is CEO of a large telecom provider.”As alumni, Morin and co-founders enjoy being able to nurture young talent from both their alma maters, including hiring co-op students. Carol Leaman was profiled in a Business Insider (April 19, 2015) article with the headline: “Why this woman turned down a fabulous job at Google.”She was in the midst of selling her company PostRank—the third tech company she would have sold. They wanted her in California so she decided to sell the company to Google instead. At the time she was advisor and CEO at Axonify, a company that turns corporate training into games. She chose to buy Axonify, took all of her savings, and found a partner to take on sales. The two worked without a paycheck for a year. She admits that as a 17-year-old, she knew what she wanted to be, the CEO of her own company. Prior to PostRank, she started two other companies: RSS Solutions (enterprise class manufacturing software) and Fakespace (a high-end virtual reality company). She took Fakespace from $3M to $30M in revenue before an acquisition in 2003. She sold RSS Solutions in 2006. Axonify—the company she gave up a paycheck for and decided to buy—is still thriving. Under her leadership, the company grew from one customer and two employees to 100+ customers and $10M in revenue. She is a role model within the ecosystem, especially for other women. She was the first executive-in-residence at Communitech and received the Waterloo Region Entrepreneur Hall of Fame’s Intrepid Award in 2011. She is an in-demand speaker, an advocate for becoming an entrepreneur, and serves on several local boards including the Waterloo Region Economic Development Corporation. Michael Alkier Jr. grew up in Waterloo and is a WLU Lazaridis School of Business and Economics graduate. His entrepreneurial pursuits are unique. He sold one large technology company, started another, and is involved in three enterprises in separate industries—software, cars, and music. He worked for SAP for 4 years before starting Omnilogic Systems Group with three partners in 1994. Omnilogic was a SAP softwareconsulting business that had 550 employees and $90M in sales before it was sold to PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2000. The success of Omnilogic gave him the opportunity to invest in other businesses. He and a partner started Ideaca in 2000, funded by the partners and the investment firm XDLi. Ideaca was a software-consulting company that provides management consulting, implementation, and support services. It acquired People Edge Inc. in 2011. Ideaca was acquired by Hitachi in 2013. He partnered with his father in Alkier Motor Sports, a company with dealerships in the Waterloo Region. On the music side, he has only used that interest as an investor. He has invested in Round13 Capital that was established in 2013. In addition to Ensign and Farlow Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2016) 5:20 Page 7 of 15 bringing founders with exits as limited partners, the focus is on bringing them together to serve as mentors. Another investor with Round13 Capital is Randall Howard profiled earlier. The money earned keeps getting recycled—most of it within the ecosystem. Dan Mathers has had a long and varied career. He was founding president and CEO of IceFyre Semiconductor (2001–2005). IceFyre was a venture-backed fabless semiconductor company focused on developing wireless chipsets for home multimedia applications. He was founding president and CEO of eSight Corporation (2006–2009), a privately funded medical device company aimed at helping vision-impaired individuals regain functional sight. He holds a US patent (issued March 2012) on an apparatus and method for augmenting sight. He is founding president of IronBit Consulting (2005–present). It is a mentorconsulting business specializing in sales and business development strategy; corporate structure and partnership strategy; and structuring commercial transactions. A recent venture, as co-founder and partner, is IronSpace Executives Inc. (2013–present). It is a full-service executive practice providing fractional executives, management consulting, coaching and mentoring, and investment strategy development. Some of his contributions to the local ecosystem include advisory support as well as mentoring tech start-ups at Communitech; founding director and entrepreneurin-residence for the local region of MaRS (a provincially funded accelerator); founding director of the Lewis Vision Foundation; and director of the Creative Enterprise Initiative. His enthusiasm and expertise have been invaluable to many. Dan Silivestru graduated with honors in science and physics from UW and stayed in the local ecosystem. But he claims he is self-taught with regard to the software development process. He studied a manual, decided it was the career he wanted, and never looked back. Co-founder of tinyHippos Inc., he served as chief technology officer from 2009–2011 before it was acquired by RIM in 2011. For several years, he served as an “open source ambassador”at RIM. In 2013, he co-founded bitHound whose services help development teams gain clear, real-time, and instantly actionable insights into the condition of their software so they can focus on critical issues, save time, and ship with confidence. Chris Reid has used his degree in electrical engineering from UW to jump-start his career in entrepreneurship. In an Ontario Center of Excellence blog, he writes: “I think entrepreneurship chose me.”Growing up, he could not not think about business. And today, he admits he would not do anything else. His first start-up was Snapsort, founded with two other UW graduates. The trio raised $500k from undisclosed investors in 2011. They spent 2 years developing their recommendation platform. Snapsort collects reviews, prices, and product information for online shoppers. The idea for his next start-up Sortable came out of Snapsort. It is designed to help publishers maximize ad revenues from websites. Prior to its move to a local strip mall, it was located in UW’s software, hardware, and science start-up incubator—the Velocity Garage. As a young entrepreneur, he has capitalized on the Waterloo tech ecosystem by making connections and finding software engineers to help grow Snapshot. Ted Hastings completed an undergraduate degree in business at WLU and then joined Deloitte & Touche LLP as a senior associate (1997) and became a chartered accountant in 1998. He left to join Endgame Systems (a sales and software company) where he served as their CEO for a year before becoming CEO of Global Beverage Group in 2002. 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Submit your manuscript to a journal and benefi t from: 7 Convenient online submission 7 Rigorous peer review 7 Immediate publication on acceptance 7 Open access: articles freely available online 7 High visibility within the fi eld 7 Retaining the copyright to your article Submit your next manuscript at 7 springeropen.com Ensign and Farlow Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2016) 5:20 Page 15 of 15