On June 13, the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation hosted a research seminar with Michael Goldberg, experienced venture capitalist and Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University.

Goldberg created the hugely successful massive open online course called “Beyond Silicon Valley: Growing Entrepreneurship in Transitioning Economies”. The course looks at Cleveland, Ohio as an example for the successful establishment of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Unlike Silicon Valley, Cleveland has worked over the past 15 years to support startups through a combination of government, philanthropic and private sector support. This combination of support is similar to what, for the most part, is taking place in communities around the world.

During his presentation, Goldberg shared more detail on the Cleveland case study. The subsequent discussion about applicable “lessons learned” for what is happing in Austria was joined by Prof. Nikolaus Franke (Director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation) and Prof. Mark Johnson (Fulbright Hall Chair for Entrepreneurship @ E&I).

Michael Goldberg’s visit was supported by an Austrian-American Partnership Fund Grant by the U.S. Embassy in Vienna.