The tech and innovation ecosystems are dynamic and interconnected networks fuelled by startups, buyers, establishments, corporates, people and different entities.
Startup Genome means that ecosystems are sometimes outlined inside a 100km radius from a central metropolis, offering governments with data-driven insights to benchmark success and focus their efforts.
However what actually occurs inside an ecosystem? Whereas enterprise capital and deal circulation dominate conventional metrics, they fail to seize the complete image.
Very similar to manufacturers, ecosystems are outlined by each tangible belongings and intangible values—psychological and emotional components that affect their behaviours and success.
If it takes a village to boost a startup, then that village should nurture honest play, try for collective success and emotional well-being, fairly than focusing solely on metrics or monopoly.
Understanding archetypes inside innovation
Each ecosystem has its heroes and villains. Some gamers act as connectors and builders, laying the muse for development and constructing networks.
Others set obstacles, creating obstacles and eroding belief. Essentially the most troubling actuality is that unhealthy actors usually fail to recognise the hurt they trigger—whether or not via poisonous management, unethical practices, exclusionary behaviour or simply sheer competitors.
Reflecting on these dynamics, I used to be impressed by a session on private and crew archetypes led by Lisa Johnston, founding father of Parts Package.
It prompted me to think about the archetypes shaping the Australian tech ecosystem. Who they’re, how do they affect our collective and private development, and the way we will navigate their complexities to maintain shifting ahead.
Borrowing the framework from the traditional spaghetti western The Good, the Unhealthy, and the Ugly, I’ve mapped 15 archetypes shaping an innovation ecosystem.
Every archetype is represented visually by an animal, capturing its essence and behavior. Let’s discover the zoo!
The Good: Champions of development
The Builder
Builders create platforms that nurture future alternatives, highlight rising leaders and allow information sharing.
They create invaluable areas for collaboration, deal-making, and celebrating collective success, forming the spine of their ecosystem.
One instance is an occasion organiser who curates gatherings the place concepts flourish, partnerships type and the neighborhood thrives.
Steerage: Hold fostering connections and amplifying new voices, however keep in mind to concentrate on industrial sustainability to make sure your occasion navigates via difficult instances. Have a good time successes, but in addition adapt to evolving neighborhood wants over time.
The Connector
Connectors act as bridges inside the ecosystem, bringing collectively people, corporations and sources.
They thrive on fostering new relationships by taking part in matchmaker and introducing individuals to one another.
Connectors amplify alternatives, appearing as community catalysts by aligning individuals’s abilities with their wants.
Steerage: To maximise their influence, connectors ought to prioritise genuine, non-transactional relationships.
Their worth lies of their potential to attach individuals primarily based on shared targets, complementary abilities and objective for a mutual profit.
The Visionary
Visionaries are leaders with individuals abilities, brilliant concepts and the power to ship initiatives.
They organise, encourage and rent the appropriate expertise to carry their imaginative and prescient to life.
They’ll think about a groundbreaking thought, assemble a crew to construct it, and navigate across the challenges.
Steerage: Stability your big-picture considering with common actuality checks. Keep grounded by listening to your crew and embrace constructive suggestions.
Success comes from aligning your imaginative and prescient with teamwork.
The Combined: Balancing potential and pitfalls
The Opportunist
Opportunists act swiftly, usually capitalising on moments others overlook.
Whereas their agility can create short-term wins, their tendency to prioritise fast features over long-term objective could hurt belief and harm relationships.
For instance, startups that focus solely on development in any respect value with out contemplating buyer loyalty can burn out rapidly.
Steerage: Opportunists ought to steadiness rapid alternatives with long-term targets. By aligning short-term actions with sustainable methods, they will create lasting worth with out compromising their belief.
The Dreamer
Dreamers are huge on concepts however lack the main focus or drive to execute.
Dreamers are pure charmers and galvanizing brainstormers however unreliable in supply.
They pitch daring ideas however fail to create prototypes or safe funding and groups, leaving concepts unrealised.
Steerage: Dreamers ought to take motion and develop self-discipline, associate with doers or smash gross sales.
Concentrate on turning one thought into actuality fairly than chasing limitless prospects. Execution issues greater than creativeness.
The Bureaucat
Bureaucats symbolize institutional inefficiency and misplaced priorities. They usually allocate inadequate funding whereas anticipating world-class outcomes or favour a small pool of trusted corporations and people.
Even worse, some could exploit mental property via funding mechanisms and reporting for their very own initiatives, sidelining the SME’s they goal to assist.
Steerage: To keep away from changing into a hindrance, Bureaucats should prioritise long-term success and concentrate on being enablers.
Offering satisfactory funding to SMEs, defending mental property, and interesting in open collaboration can rework them into valued contributors fairly than obstructive forces and competitors.
The Unhealthy: Boundaries to progress
The Gatekeeper
Gatekeepers management alternatives, usually excluding ladies and underrepresented teams from management or funding.
With only one.8% of funding going to ladies founders, biases favouring male-led corporations perpetuate the low proportion of ladies in govt roles.
Steerage: Gatekeepers should evaluation their processes to establish and eradicate any unconscious biases.
Create inclusive pathways for numerous expertise to entry alternatives they guard. They need to recognise that fostering fairness strengthens the ecosystem and drives everybody ahead.
The Bulldozer
Bulldozers dominate ecosystems via sheer drive or groundbreaking innovations, usually overwhelming smaller gamers or markets.
Their ways, similar to flooding markets or monopolising sources could be seen as confronting.
For instance, a competitor’s AI system could replicate an present one and undercut its pricing, leaving the investor neighborhood scratching their heads.
Steerage: Bulldozers may very well be ‘a sputnik second’ and they need to concentrate on mentorship.
By leveraging their sources to uplift rising innovators, they propel equitable development and may act as catalysts for long-term success.
The Collector
Collectors hoard sources, funding and information with out redistributing or sharing.
Their behaviour kills collaboration and prevents innovation from flourishing.
As an example, corporations that purchase startups solely to close down their operation hinder the ecosystem’s potential.
Steerage: Collectors should undertake a mindset of generosity and openness.
Sharing sources and insights strengthens the ecosystem, creating reciprocal worth and long-term development.
The Ugly: Threats to Belief and Collaboration
The Shadow
Shadows sabotage others via rumours, badmouthing or obstruction whereas showing pleasant and educated.
They manipulate belief to place themselves as the only authority, usually misguiding others as a result of their lack of know-how.
A mentor could achieve belief however present poor steerage, damaging or slowing down an organization’s progress.
Steerage: Management your ego and recognise the bounds of your experience.
Focus on enabling others to entry numerous views and credible recommendation. True management comes from collaboration, not management.
The Predator
Predators thrive on exploiting weaknesses. This will embrace buying smaller companies to eradicate competitors or leveraging authorized loopholes to take care of dominance.
For instance, a bigger firm may use patent claims to carry again a smaller competitor’s groundbreaking product, limiting their potential for innovation.
Steerage: Stability competitors with equity. Wholesome rivalry ought to push everybody to innovate, however exploitation weakens belief and slows down development.
Search collaborations that create win-win-win eventualities fairly than preying on the weak.
The Sovereign
Sovereigns declare their territory, pushing others out. This may very well be literal, similar to monopolising occasion area, or metaphorical, like dominating media consideration.
A worldwide tech firm establishing store in a smaller ecosystem may out-hire and out-market native gamers, leaving little room for them to develop.
Steerage: Be a steward of the ecosystem. As a substitute of occupying area for private achieve, concentrate on creating an setting the place everybody can develop.
Recognise that management comes from enabling others to thrive, not ruling over them.
The Shapeshifter
Shapeshifters are chameleons adapting to look reliable and succesful, however they usually lack consistency and integrity.
Their principal focus is self-interest, and so they could bend relationships for private achieve, compromising their belief.
For instance, a provider may overpromise high-quality manufacturing however ship flawed outcomes or poor high quality, whereas secretly negotiating offers together with your different key shoppers.
Steerage: Shapeshifters ought to prioritise authenticity and sincere communication to construct stronger and extra respected relationships inside the ecosystem. Transparency is the important thing!
The Manipulator
Manipulators are all about private achieve, providing little to nothing in return.
They construct relationships selectively, usually ignoring or dismissing others until they see a direct profit.
As an example, some salespeople could sweet-talk you with out delivering actual worth in return, or seem disinterested, unfriendly, and dismissive — even ghosting you — until they see a possibility to profit from you.
Steerage: Shift your mindset from fixed conversions to contributing and interesting. Construct real, reciprocal relationships by providing worth and supporting others.
Acknowledge and respect individuals constantly, not simply whenever you want one thing. Your status will outlast any short-term features.
The Concept Thief
Concept thieves declare credit score for others’ work, whether or not from their groups or exterior sources.
They undermine belief by stealing recognition or IP with none acknowledgment.
This may very well be a Artistic Director presenting a marketing campaign as their very own work, neglecting to credit score the one who created it, or an govt claiming possession of a competitor’s IP, passing it off as the corporate’s innovation.
Steerage: Honor originality and provides credit score the place it’s due. Foster a tradition of belief and transparency inside your crew. Encourage collaboration and overtly recognise contributions to create a wholesome, idea-vibrant setting the place teamwork is a dream work.
Innovation ecosystems thrive on belief, collaboration and equitable alternative, however are additionally pushed by competitors.
Whereas the nice archetypes drive development, the unhealthy and the ugly threaten to undermine these foundations. Recognising, and generally even calling out and addressing dangerous behaviors is vital to fostering environments the place innovation prospers.
As we enter 2025, let’s champion builders, visionaries and connectors whereas addressing the pitfalls of gatekeepers, predators and shapeshifters.
Let’s attempt to construct a legacy of collective progress fairly than constructing castles and dominating over small gamers or markets.
George Hedon is the founding father of Pause Fest & Awards, a neighborhood builder, designer and enabler of superior.
