Startup Ecosystem Maturity and Visualization: The Cases of New York, Tel Aviv, and San Paolo

Abstract

A healthy startup ecosystem, an environment with a well-balanced variety of agents and supporting processes, is crucial for the development of innovative startups. However, not all startup ecosystems are equally developed, and it is difficult to have all the elements of a startup ecosystem in advanced and prolific states, especially due to the fact that startup ecosystems are dynamic and evolve over time. In this chapter, we present a maturity model for startup ecosystems, which is built upon an analysis of three major startup ecosystems—Tel Aviv, Sao Paulo, and New York. We also present the visualization of the maturity model enabled by a web-based application that provides a user-friendly graphical representation of the maturity of a startup ecosystem. The chapter demonstrates that the maturity model, aided by the proper visualization, can serve as a basis for stakeholders in a startup ecosystem to analyze their environment, identify weak spots, and propose policies and practical actions to improve their ecosystem over time.