RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Three main takeaways from a first-of-its-kind audio conversation held on new social media app Clubhouse regarding the strengths of the Triangle’s entrepreneurial economy: collaboration is strong; diversity and inclusion matter; talent and success attract talent and success.  And among those cheering the region’s strengths: AOL founder Steve Case.

Those are the arguments that more than 200 simultaneous attendees heard while listening in to a nearly two-hour conversation Friday afternoon conversation facilitated by members of Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund team on the topic of why investors ought to cut checks to early and growth stage startups in the Triangle.

The history of entrepreneurship in the Triangle spans more than just a few decades, since the creation and subsequent expansion of Research Triangle Park.  In fact, said Steve Case, founder of Revolution and founder of AOL, who headlined the call, economic development offices are finally realizing that the key to successful long-term economic growth is not just the attraction of large companies, but the cultivation of and support of new ventures.  The burgeoning startup ecosystems of Durham and Raleigh, along with the long-standing success of growth-stage companies in the region, and the network of prestigious colleges and universities were what landed the Triangle on the first Rise of the Rest bus tour in 2015, said Case.

Since then, Case and Revolution have invested in multiple companies in the Triangle, nearly a half-dozen.  “We’re super excited by the momentum,” said Case.  “Pleased there has been much more attention around talent-moving and now capital is starting to move,” he added, sharing that one possible silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it is accelerating the movement of investment capital into growing ecosystems like Durham and Raleigh, as well as talent.

Triangle thought leaders engage in Clubhouse discusssion about region’s entrepreneurial community.

“For a lot of people, sheltering will be temporary, but for a growing number, it will be permanent, and we think that will likely accelerate the trend we talk about in the Rise of the Rest,” said Case.  “Cities and regions need to be a magnet for talent because ultimately that is what drives the whole train.”  And the Raleigh-Durham region is a magnet for talent, said Case.

“We’re bullish for the next decade,” he added.

The region’s history, of course, spans not just decades, but across centuries, with the entrepreneurship of the Duke family and the rise of black-owned businesses along Parrish Street (which was referred to as “Black Wall Street”) and beyond in Durham, noted speaker Jes Averhart, a co-founder of Black Wall Street Homecoming and Jes + Co LLC.

“History extends to cities across the country, where right at the turn of the century, there were centers of greatness and economic growth, and right here in Downtown Durham, there were big bets being placed on Durham and on the black community,” said Averhart.  “That was 120 years ago, and that bet was to create a financial center in a place so recently removed from slavery, and we did, we built a financial center where there were more black millionaires than anywhere else,” said Averhart.

In Triangle entrepreneurial economy, universities play a growing role to drive more inclusion

Jes and her Black Wall Street co-founder, Tobais Rose, who also founded and heads creative at Komplex, a creative consultancy in Durham, talked about the importance of Black Wall Street Homecoming, which launched in 2015, on the very day that the initial Rise of the Rest bus tour hit the Triangle on their third stop.

“Six years ago, we really wanted to highlight those in our community,” said Averhart, “who are underestimated, but have immense talent, but not access to capital or resources.”

“That is a real dream and that is attainable here in Durham,” she added.

Diversity—and Collaboration

“Diversity and collaboration—that’s really what struck me about the region,” said Anil Chawla, the founder and current executive chairman of ArchiveSocial.  “It’s not just a tech community inside of a wider community—you’re getting diversity of background experiences coming together—you can get to know everyone rather quickly, and everyone is so collaborative here, so as a founder we all feel really supported.”

A discussion in Clubhouse of the Triangle’s entrepreneurial economy drew a diverse audience.

Chawla humbly recounted the journey of starting, then growing ArchiveSocial, describing his experience as a clear example of the collaboration and momentum of the startup economy across the region throughout the 2010s.  Chawla spoke about his experiences: participating right out of the gate in Durham’s first Startup Stampede, then finding a home and workstation and mentorship—and preliminary funding—at the Triangle Startup Factory, applying for and receiving an NC IDEA SEED grant, then standing on stage pitching Steve Case and Revolution in 2015 at the Rise of the Rest event in a building on the American Tobacco Campus—and winning a giant check the team walked around town with all night.

“When we got to our pitch, in front of Steve, we were able to say that we were the story of the region, not because we were great, but because we were in the right place and took advantage of the opportunities in the region.”

The collaborative ecosystem exists whether you launch your business in the Triangle or choose to relocate to the Triangle, noted Yasin Abbak, the co-founder of Fantasy Life App, which until June had been based out of New York City.

Abbak and his partner—also an entrepreneur running a business—began to feel cramped in their apartment and searched for an ecosystem and community they could make a new home.

“Not every list could be wrong,” joked Abbak, noting that they must have searched for dozens and dozens of lists of rankings, and the Triangle continued to rank at the top.

“I came down here not knowing anybody when we moved, to knowing most of the people on the stage, and many of the people in the audience today,” said Abbak.  “This area is way more collaborative than any other environment that I’ve been in—entrepreneur to entrepreneur and also the investor community.”