The entrepreneurial ecosystem of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico: Its technology-based and fast-growing startups and entrepreneurial-employees

Abstract

The purpose of this article is analyse the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem of Guadalajara Jalisco, México (EEZMG) through its technology-based, fast growing startups and ‘entrepreneurial-employees’, their growth dynamics and interactions as well as to explore the factors that impact their growth, and discover the policies or programs that have the greatest effect on their development. Therefore, using as analytical framework the ‘Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Model’ proposed by Stam (2015) this research applied a mixed research method through in depth and semi structured interviews to entrepreneurs, key informants, and influencers. The study has confirmed the hypothesis of ‘entrepreneurial-employees’ and its ambition about job creation that previous research has predicted. Moreover, the study shows that both the ‘institutional framework’ and the ‘systemic conditions’ have created a ‘productive entrepreneurship’ promoting ‘value creation’ and furthermore, the entrepreneurs have capacities to develop, globalize and strengthen the ecosystem. After the conclusions, the study provides some implications for policy design and cumulative development of entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Keywords

• entrepreneurship, innovation, entrepreneurial-employees, productive entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial ecosystem, deep technology sectors.