Join readers of Ecosystem Edge for tips, strategies, and resources to launch, grow, and sustain your innovation ecosystem.
Your glue work isn't overhead. It's infrastructure.
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"The glue work of ecosystem builders is foundational and essential, and articulating its value effectively is key to its protection and continuation." 🔗 From Compliance to Connection Webinar The Question That Stops Ecosystem Builders ColdAfter a combined 48+ years navigating ecosystem building, innovation strategy, and economic development, we've seen one question derail more ecosystem leaders than any other: "What's your ROI?" You know the work is foundational. Building trust. Preventing duplication. Weaving connections that make entire systems work. But translating it into the language funders understand? That's where even the most experienced builders struggle. Last year, ecosystem builders across the country began to lose critical funding. Not because the work wasn't valuable—because it was invisible. Funders couldn't see it, so they cut it. That's why we partnered with Social Venturers and EcoMap Technologies to tackle this head-on in our recent webinar: From Compliance to Connection: How Ecosystem Builders Can Protect What Matters and Demonstrate ROI. This month's newsletter breaks down the approach we shared, with practical steps you can implement immediately to protect your coordination work and demonstrate measurable value. The Builder's Dilemma: Three Capabilities, One Missing Piece🔥 Here's the tension every ecosystem builder faces: Effective ecosystem building requires three distinct capabilities: 🔨 Building authentic relationships and trust Most ecosystem builders naturally excel at the first two. The third? That's where brilliant builders get stuck—and defunded. The environment isn't helping. We're operating in a BANI Environment: Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, Incomprehensible. Funding cycles are shrinking. Political instability is rising. Pressure on builders to "show impact" has never been more intense. Meanwhile, the coordination work that prevents $2M in duplication or accelerates deals by six months? It gets labeled "overhead". 🧠 The uncomfortable truth: The most critical work in ecosystem building is also the hardest to fund. We're talking about the invisible infrastructure. This is the relationship maintenance, partner alignment, information flow systems, and coordination mechanisms that enable everything else to work. Your glue work isn't overhead. It's critical regional infrastructure. And infrastructure requires investment. We covered real examples: Business Oregon's hub-and-spoke model demonstrates how coordination leads to less waste and new funding opportunities. That "coffee meeting intel" you're capturing? It's social capital building that opens doors and outcomes. Watch the Full WebinarReady to master this approach and learn from live examples and audience Q&A? The complete session is available here:
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Ecosystem Edge
Join readers of Ecosystem Edge for tips, strategies, and resources to launch, grow, and sustain your innovation ecosystem.
"The measure of intelligence is the ability to change." — Albert Einstein Welcome to the first Ecosystem Edge of 2026. To kick-start the new year, we're not making predictions. We're naming patterns. Last fall, we ran our Ecosystem Edge Scorecard with 21 ecosystem builders across the country. We asked them to assess their relationships across nine partner types and four phases of ecosystem development. No fancy software, just honest self-assessment using colored discs on a grid. The patterns...
"The best time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining." — John F. Kennedy The best time to evaluate an ecosystem builder role is before you accept it. That might sound obvious. But in a job market full of transitions, buzzwords and good intentions, it's easy to say yes to a title that sounds right—only to discover the organization wasn't ready for what the role really requires. This newsletter is about how to tell the difference.If you are currently looking for an ecosystem building...
"The map is not the territory." — Alfred Korzybski Welcome to Ecosystem Edge, where we cut through the noise to deliver battle-tested strategies for regional innovation ecosystem builders. This edition explores why your region's "disadvantages" might actually be your greatest strategic assets, and why Silicon Valley's playbook is the wrong map when you need real-time GPS. You're Not Behind. You're Different. A quick note: Startup communities matter. They’re vital engines of creativity, talent...