Jerome Engel

What inspired this book?
In my first book, we demonstrated how innovative technology companies tend to emerge in clusters in certain regions—and we questioned what drives that process. The world has since entered a period of severe economic, cultural, and environmental disruption due to an ongoing series of shocks. We wanted to investigate what was happening in these innovative communities and whether they demonstrate enhanced resilience. We found that the answer was yes. Clusters of… Show more

What inspired this book?
In my first book, we demonstrated how innovative technology companies tend to emerge in clusters in certain regions—and we questioned what drives that process. The world has since entered a period of severe economic, cultural, and environmental disruption due to an ongoing series of shocks. We wanted to investigate what was happening in these innovative communities and whether they demonstrate enhanced resilience. We found that the answer was yes. Clusters of Innovation have entrepreneurial agility that enhances their resilience to external shocks, contributing significant social and economic value to society.

How do they do this?
Through innovation, which I define as the positive response to change. Truly innovative tech trends are often pursued by venture capital-backed entrepreneurial firms. Their market entry strategy is often to approach niche markets, which provide a beachhead opportunity because incumbent firms are not serving their needs exactly. So smaller firms gain traction. Many of the entrepreneurial firms that blossomed during the pandemic were in place for years prior. Their work refining their technology and products allowed them to quickly provide solutions of huge impact when the shock occurred.

Can you provide an example?
Zoom, which displaced slower-moving incumbents to (seemingly overnight) revolutionize business, personal, and educational communication. Its quick mass adoption revolved around a subtle business model innovation, namely product-led growth. PLG is an evolution of the freemium model, where ease of user adoption (no logins, no hassle) is emphasized and often free. Revenue evolves eventually from upselling scale users on value- Show less

Entrepreneurship and innovation are the drivers of value creation in the
twenty-first century. In the geography of the global economy there are ‘hot
spots’ where new technologies germinate at an astounding rate and pools
of capital, expertise and talent foster the development of new industries and
new ways of doing business. These clusters of innovation have key attributes
distinct from traditional industrial clusters that allow them to extend beyond
geographic boundaries and… Show more

Entrepreneurship and innovation are the drivers of value creation in the
twenty-first century. In the geography of the global economy there are ‘hot
spots’ where new technologies germinate at an astounding rate and pools
of capital, expertise and talent foster the development of new industries and
new ways of doing business. These clusters of innovation have key attributes
distinct from traditional industrial clusters that allow them to extend beyond
geographic boundaries and serve as models for economic expansion in both
developed and developing countries. How do these clusters emerge? What is
the role of individual institutions such as governments, universities, major
corporations, investors, and the individual entrepreneur? Are there systemic
underpinnings, an invisible hand, that encourage these communities?
The book begins with a presentation of the Clusters of Innovation
Framework that identifies the salient components, behaviors, and linkages
that characterize an innovation cluster, followed by an analysis of the
archetypal cluster, Silicon Valley. Subsequent chapters probe how these
characteristics apply in a diverse selection of economic communities in
Germany, Belgium, Spain, the United Kingdom, Israel, Japan, Taiwan, China,
Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil. Concluding chapters investigate the role of
trans-regional organizations as cross-border disseminators of best practices in
entrepreneurship and innovation.
Students and professors of economics, business, public policy, management,
entrepreneurship, and innovation will find this book a useful resource.
Corporate executives, university administrators, government officials,
policymakers, and entrepreneurs will also find it an insightful guide. Show less

This article is a personal remembrance by the authors, of John Freeman's transition from being a scholar on organization theory to an active contributor to entrepreneurship research, teaching and mentoring. The article reflects on Freeman's work on organizational ecology and entrepreneurship, as faculty director of the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley, as he turned the focus of the Center to new venture formation. The article narrates… Show more

This article is a personal remembrance by the authors, of John Freeman's transition from being a scholar on organization theory to an active contributor to entrepreneurship research, teaching and mentoring. The article reflects on Freeman's work on organizational ecology and entrepreneurship, as faculty director of the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley, as he turned the focus of the Center to new venture formation. The article narrates how Freeman came to regard new venture creation as a defined management process for the new class of business manager, the professional entrepreneur, and points out his extension of the entrepreneurial process beyond the individual to the team and even to the ecosystem. Show less

The last half century has seen the emergence of a new model of business innovation featuring the convergence of entrepreneurs, rapid technological change, and venture capital. This combination has proven an effective force at realizing disruptive innovation that has often left incumbents shattered in their wake. What can the mature enterprise learn from this venture capital model of innovation management? What is the role of the CTO in identifying and adopting these approaches? This article… Show more

The last half century has seen the emergence of a new model of business innovation featuring the convergence of entrepreneurs, rapid technological change, and venture capital. This combination has proven an effective force at realizing disruptive innovation that has often left incumbents shattered in their wake. What can the mature enterprise learn from this venture capital model of innovation management? What is the role of the CTO in identifying and adopting these approaches? This article investigates the ten leading strategies employed by venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to test new ideas and commercialize innovations quickly. The most disruptive innovations are seen to be those that go beyond technical discovery to embrace business model innovations that disrupt supply chains, disintermediate incumbents, and create new markets. This article presents the tools the modern CTO needs to participate in this dynamic process Show less

Innovation is a global process. Innovation, especially among early stage
start-up ventures, is generally understood to accelerate when such
ventures are in close proximity groupings known as Clusters of Innovation
(COI). Clusters are not isolated islands. The most successful are
often the most globally connected, utilizing linkages with other like clusters to
leverage resources, access markets and accelerate the innovation process. We define a COI as an environment that favors… Show more

Innovation is a global process. Innovation, especially among early stage
start-up ventures, is generally understood to accelerate when such
ventures are in close proximity groupings known as Clusters of Innovation
(COI). Clusters are not isolated islands. The most successful are
often the most globally connected, utilizing linkages with other like clusters to
leverage resources, access markets and accelerate the innovation process. We define a COI as an environment that favors the creation and development of high potential entrepreneurial ventures
and is characterized by heightened mobility of resources, including people,
capital and information.1 The framework builds upon the cluster literature,
allows for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms behind the formation of
COI, and most importantly their symbiotic relationship to other COI. It explains
how individuals and organizations in a COI benefit from cluster externalities
but differentiates COI from pure agglomerations of interconnected organizations
working in the same industries (industrial or Porterian clusters). It also explains
how individuals, companies, universities and other players in COI are connected
to other, sometimes globally distant COI, through diverse mechanisms including
weak ties, durable bonds and covalent bonds. These linkages lead to the creation
of Networks of Clusters of Innovation (NCOI) with coincident efficiencies
and benefits. In limited instances the elements of these networks intensify to
the point of mutual dependence, giving rise to the emergence of Super-Clusters
of Innovation (Super-COI). This paper uses a case study to illustrate how focusing
internally on a region can neglect the importance of situating an emerging
Global Clusters of Innovation: Show less

A new framework for understanding emerging patterns of innovation in and among communities that foster and support the emergence of new ventures.

Comparison and contrast of innovation practices in startups and established enterprises.

A guide for creating entrepreneurship programs and curriculum for higher education. The guide was published and disseminated as an integral element of an international program supported by Intel Corporation and conducted by the authors and additional faculty from the University of California at Berkeley, Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, that conducted seminars in over 40 countries over a period of four years.

CHAPTER 20: ACCOUNTING AND RELATED TAX ISSUES
The chapter identifies key considerations regarding accountability, financial reporting and tax planning/compliance for new ventures. It was orriginally published in 1985 and has been updated annually thereafter.