As the chair of a digital networking group, I am introduced to a number of new digital ideas weekly. I love it, but one thing that seems to be a trend is the lack of understanding of the digital world. My colleagues and I are very adept to the web market place and have a pretty good understanding of its intricacies, but our geographic location makes us the minority. See, we’re in Michigan, you know the place known to be the “World Capital of the Auto Industry”.
Being a digital / internet entrepreneur here is a tough case as the business majority just does not get us. The primary point of separation or misunderstanding is what is misconstrued as an “asset free” business model. In Michigan, there has long been a focus on manufacturing and industry of which a common trait is tangible assets and the high prospect of intellectual property in the form of Patents. Conversely, in the digital world, we do have assets, of a very high value in fact, but they are in digital format. In many cases, the assets are are patentable, but remain trade secret due to the nature of the internet. This seems to be a primary sticking point for those businesses that are scaling and fundable because the investment community is just not prepared to work with such an enterprise, or are they??? Its time for change here thats for sure, who’s interested in leading the charge?
In Michigan, we have a rapidly growing community of digital enterprises and start ups. Of the 50+ enterprises related to Digital Edge Mi many of which are fundable, but due to the economic environment combined with the legacy mentality, the digital business is being ignored. Our Digital Edge seeks to change this environment over time, but its looking to be an uphill battle. Of our members that are funded, the dramatic majority of their funding has come from sources out of state and that is a travesty.
So what is my underlying message to Michigan Digital Entrepreneurs? Stick with it, we’re going to make the system work, but its going to require getting involved. Best case is to join Digital Edge on Facebook and get involved or contact me directly!
