Cluster-based Programs Not Aligned With Times and Needs: Larta Institute

LOS ANGELES, March 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Larta Institute, the Los Angeles-based commercialization assistance hub, says that the current, localized and cluster-based models of assistance offered to high-growth entrepreneurs do not meet their needs in a time of increased global competition and opportunity. It describes instead an evolving "Network-Centric" model as offering the best way to organize and measure assistance programs targeting such entrepreneurs.

Larta CEO Rohit Shukla discusses this "Network-Centric" model in a paper selected to be presented at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation's International Research and Policy Roundtable, March 11-12 in Liverpool: Supporting high growth entrepreneurs: The Network-Centric approach to entrepreneurial assistance. The Roundtable kicks off the Global Entrepreneurship Congress, which attracts entrepreneurs, thought-leaders, economists and policy-makers from more than 100 countries.

Shukla points out that "current models of entrepreneur assistance are built around regional and local clusters, incubators and other initiatives focused on an expectation of outcomes and based on a set of prescribed ingredients." Many of them have the support of local, state and federal governments around the world and as such have become established policy. Yet, "today's high-growth entrepreneur must operate in a global context defined by information asymmetry, fast-changing market dynamics, low barriers to market entry, wide dispersion of knowledge and an inherently interconnected marketplace, to remain competitive," he adds, noting that "such pre-determined ingredients do not respond well to the non-linear circumstances surrounding global commerce." 

Thus, the current paradigm of entrepreneurial assistance fosters programs that leave resident entrepreneurs sheltered, less able and ill-prepared to adapt to fast-changing circumstances, and results in missed opportunities that exist outside their local or regional markets and contexts. Shukla maintains that these are critical gaps and require economic development organizations to "adopt a flexible, 'mass customized' approach to entrepreneurial assistance. This should be focused on practical, just-in-time strategies more in tune with global markets and opportunities in today's rough and tumble market." 

The full paper may be found here.

About Larta Institute

Larta Institute is a private non-profit organization with the mission of vastly improving the transition of scientific and technological breakthroughs from the lab to the marketplace, where they can better lives and improve wellbeing. Larta has over 18 years of experience in the design and implementation of high-impact commercialization programs that help innovators reach global markets. Our clients range from federal agencies in the U.S. to governments and regional authorities across the globe. We credit our proven track record of success to our unrivaled expertise and extensive global network of subject-matter experts, seasoned entrepreneurs, investors, and Fortune 1000 companies. Since 1993, we have assisted hundreds of entrepreneurs to raise over $1.5 billion in capital.

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SOURCE Larta Institute