Glossary

Resources is our general term for any thing that is meant to support Ecosystem Builders. Whether it is an online course, a funding program, or an online platform, we set out to find a wide variety of Resources that could be useful for ecosystem builders.

While we started with Resources specifically for ecosystem builders, we are slowly adding data about Resources for Entrepreneur Support Orgs and other intermediaries (such as funding programs for accelerators). Sign up for the mailing list to stay in the loop with new data additions!

Organizations are any, well, organization that is dedicated to supporting ecosystem builders or furthering the field of ecosystem building. It can be a nonprofit, a for-profit company, a government agency, a university, or an unincorporated group.

If a given group provides Resources for ecosystem builders, they are automatically listed under Organizations, but Organizations can be listed without corresponding Resources, as well.

Ecosystem Building is a phrase that encompasses the collective effort put into developing a given community in order to make it more conducive to entrepreneurship. It can take many forms, from government-led economic development to grassroots organizing.

Because of this, the field is hard to define, but it is united by the common theme of supporting entrepreneurs - and those who work with entrepreneurs - across a variety of sectors, stages, and business types.

Ecosystem Builders spend so much time ensuring that our local entrepreneurs have access to funding, that sometimes we forget that there are programs that exist to fund the work itself!

Funding encompasses any program focused on providing funding for ecosystem builders and their work (not the entrepreneurs within their ecosystem, which will go under the Resources for Entrepreneurs category in Phase 2 of EcoDepot) 

There are two core subtypes, Prize Competitions (which come with a recognition component ) and Grants (which can also come with recognition, but are mostly just funding). We can't always find the exact vehicle that the funding is provided through, so be sure to check out the websites for more info.

One of the best parts of being an Ecosystem Builder is finding other Ecosystem Builders (what can we say, it's an awesome crowd). The Group and Community category encompasses Resources that help you get plugged in to other networks of peers. There are three core subtypes: 

Virtual Communities, including online platforms where ecosystem builders can connect with eachother

Membership Networks, where you typically have to pay a fee to get access to the network and/or the resources it offers

Close Cohorts or Councils, which are different groups that are not open to the public, but are rather curated through some selection process (such as nomination to a board or selection into a cohort) 

Content is king, as they like to say. We have to agree, seeing that Media and Content is one of the largest Resource categories on EcoDepot. This category covers any type of media that is targeted towards ecosystem builders, including...

Research and Reports, which are focused on using quantitative and qualitative data in order to provide insights into the ecosystem building field

Podcasts or Video Series, which tend to be focused on highlighting ecosystem building initiatives

Newsletters, in case you wanted more things in your inbox, and Event Calendars, in case you wanted to attend some more Zoom events

Content Libraries and Blogs, which are essentially collections of many different types of content that would be duplicative to scrape, and

Books and Guides, which are long-form content pieces about ecosystem building. You'll note that we do not include articles; rather, those are typically found within the linked Content Libraries.

Tools and Services is a broad category that encompasses a ton of different Resources that you can leverage to understand and grow your ecosystem. Most of them are Free which others are Paid, which are clearly marked on each Resource Page. The main subtypes include...

Toolkits or Assessments, which include curated guides to different ecosystem initiatives and approaches, or self-service assessments and measurement tools that you can use to gauge your ecosystem
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Ecosystem Maps, which identify assets within your innovation ecosystem, such as Resources and Support Organizations for entrepreneurs, and help you navigate and understand that data (like EcoDepot!)

Ecosystem Management Platforms, which help you manage entrepreneurs within your ecosystem, such as tracking participants in an accelerator program

Databases and Digital Tools, which allow you to navigate large datasets or explore specific information in a graphic way (like EcoDepot!), and

Consulting Services, for when you want to tap into professional help for your ecosystem

While Phase 1 of EcoDepot is focused on Resources and Organizations that support Ecosystem Builders, in Phase 2 we will be collecting information on Resources that support entrepreneurs on a national and international scale.

Obviously, this includes thousands of Resources, so we are curating the ones that will be of the greatest interest to ecosystem builders, so that you can tap into the ones that best meet the needs of your local entrepreneurs

If you want to be involved with this process, get in touch with us!

Perspective is perhaps the most abstract category on EcoDepot, because it essentially captures what "lens" this Resource or Organization approaches ecosystem building with.

Since Ecosystem Building is such a vast field, the Perspective category can help narrow it down based on what approach you are interested in taking to growing your ecosystem. Each Resource and Organization can have multiple Perspectives, and there are 11 core Perspectives we've identified...

Commercialization and R&D > focus is on research or technology-intensive efforts and companies
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Data and Analysis > focus is on qualitative and quantitative data about ecosystems and how to improve them
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Education and Workforce > focus is on curating or increasing talent pools, whether through traditional educational institutions or other programs
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Entrepreneur-Focused > focuses strongly on the entrepreneur over the ecosystem builder, even if the Resource or Org is targeted to builders
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Equity and Inclusion > focus is on building more equitable and accessible ecosystems across different races, genders, abilities, identities, and income levels
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Grassroots and Community > focus is on curating the community or driving ground-up change within an ecosystem
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Industry and Development > focus is on developing a specific industry within the ecosystem, such as growing the venture capital scene in a given area
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Investment and Financial > the focus is on financial investments, vehicles, or analysis
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Networks and Systems > focuses on how different parts of ecosystems are interconnected and how information and impact travels through those networks
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People and Storytelling > makes people and their histories the core focus of the ecosystem building effort
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Policy and Advocacy > focus is on pushing for policy changes in order to further ecosystem building

The Purpose of a Resource or Organization is what it sounds like - if you engage this Resource or Org, the Purpose is what you will get out of it. There are 13 different Purposes...

Access Materials > get access to resources or other materials

Aid COVID Recovery > help your community bounce back from all this

Be Entertained > explore lighthearted content about ecosystem building

Discover New Tools > find new specific tools to help your ecosystem

Explore New Models > find new abstract models to apply to the ecosystem

Gain Networks > meet new people, make some friends

Get Certified > certify your expertise or experience with a formal program

Get Educated > gain expertise in the field of ecosystem building

Get Funded > find funding for your ecosystem building efforts

Get Recognized > gain (well-deserved) exposure for you and your work
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Hire Professional Support > take the load off with ecosystem services
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Join a Community > get involved with a specific group or network
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Stay up to Date > get the most recent news about ecosystem building

The Audience category is focused on who the Resource or Organization is targeted towards. Specifically, it is the type of audience most likely to engage with and benefit from the listed Resource or Org. Mostly, the Audience is broadly Ecosystem Builders, but there are more specific categories as well: 

Accelerators or Incubators
Colleges and Universities
Economic Developers
Entrepreneur Educators
Entrepreneur Support Orgs
Entrepreneurs (themselves)
Investors and Lenders
Policy Makers and Governments

The Ecosystem Type category focuses on the different, well, types of entrepreneurial ecosystems that you might be working with. While many of these categories are overlapping, this field is meant to help you find the programs most applicable to your work. The main Types we have identified are...

‍Main Street >  focus on small and traditional businesses (like retail shops)
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High Growth > focus on often technology-enabled and scale-drive companies
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Innovation & STEM > focus on companies that require extensive research or technological innovation to bring to market (like pharma, or deep tech) 
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‍Ecosystem Building > focused on building the ecosystem of ecosystem builders, which is like, so meta

Rural & Agricultural > focused on the unique needs of rural or lower-density areas, and companies related to agri/aquaculture

College and University > includes both student-centric ecosystems and research-centric ecosystems, in which case Innovation & STEM is applied as well

Microenterprise and SGB > focused on micro-businesses, often used in an international development context

Governmental > focused on government, or the industries where government is heavily involved (defense, aerospace)

Philanthropic > not commonly used, but focused on not-for-profit or foundation-driven ecosystems

Different than the Audience, the Population of Focus category is not about what groups would use the Resource, but rather if there are specific demographic groups that the Resource is focused on impacting.

For example, there could be a Program focused on teaching accelerators to scale their capacity to serve Black founders. The Audience would be Entrepreneur Support Orgs and Accelerators & Incubators, while the Population of Focus would be Black Founders.

This category is broad and ever-changing, but it currently includes:  Black, Faculty, Female, LatinX, LGTBQ+, Low-Income, Returning Citizen, Student, and Veteran Founders. "Underrepresented Groups" is used when the target population was not specified by the Resource or Org.

The Location category simply states where the Resource or Org works. Currently, EcoDepot contains mostly US resources, so the types are United States, International, and Virtual, which is being phased out since nearly everything is virtual or can be accessed virtually

Finally, the Tags category is pretty much a catch-all for different keywords that we picked up during our analysis, but that didn't exactly fit into another category. We gather information algorithmically, and sometimes our algorithms spit out some interesting tags that help us understand the dataset, and those are captured in this column.