Desh Deshpande, co-chairman of President Barack Obama’s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, visited Colorado last week to meet with key decision makers to explore ways the state can improve its high-tech and entrepreneurial standing.
The trip was organized by Vic Ahmed, president of TiE Rockies, an entrepreneurial support organization.
“My whole agenda was to hopefully have Desh meet with enough people who matter in this town so we can connect up with the ecosystem that Desh is connected to already,” Ahmed said.
Deshpande is also co-founder of telecom equipment maker Sycamore Networks and founder of the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT. The center has awarded $11 million in grants to more than 80 tech-related projects.
Among others, Deshpande visited with the officials from the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, leaders of local universities, and Gov. John Hickenlooper and members of his Cabinet. The Denver Post interviewed Deshpande afterward.
Q: What’s the big takeaway after your meetings?
A: People everywhere in the country seem to realize now that it’s good that the country was good in entrepreneurship and innovation. It’s a nice thing to have. But for the next 25 years, it’s a must-have thing because if you’re looking at the numbers, most of the jobs are created by high-growth, young companies as opposed to large companies. So we have to get better at starting these new companies.
We met with the chamber, we met with the governor, we met with the university presidents — and they are all talking the same language.
Q: What can Colorado do to better support entrepreneurs and innovation?
A: You need organizations like TiE, where you really promote entrepreneurship. As an entrepreneur, you just go make things happen. You don’t worry about what hurdles you have. You don’t worry about the ecosystem. You don’t worry about all that junk. You just go do it.
On the other side, with the policymakers, you want them to set things up so that they reduce the friction. They make it a little bit easier. You want to be pushing it from both sides. What’s been interesting today, it looks like a lot of people in Colorado are thinking about how do they actually celebrate and facilitate entrepreneurship.
Q: Is Boulder nationally recognized as a tech hub?
A: It’s up there. But we need to get the activity up a little bit more. Boston has a little bit of the same problem where the companies get started and they get acquired by a bigger company, so you don’t really get a local company that’s big enough to support a lot of other things.
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209, avuong@denverpost. com or
